Skip to main content

Full text of "The Philippines a century hence"

See other formats


The  Philippines 

A  Century  Hence 


» 


"In  the  Philippine  Islands  the  American  govern- 
ment has  tried,  and  is  trying,  to  carry  out  exactly 
what  the  greatest  genius  and  most  revered  patriot 
ever  known  in  the  Philippines,  Jose  Rizal,  stead- 
fastly advocated." 

— From  a  public  address  at  Fargo.  N.D.,  on 
April  7th,  1905.  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States. 


A  sketch  map,  by  Dr.  Kizal,  of  spheres  of  influence 
in  the  Pacific  at  the  time  of  writing  "The  Philippines 
A  Century   Hence,"  as  they  appeared   to  him. 

Most  of  the  French  names  will  he  easily  recognized, 
though  it  may  he  noted  that  "Etats  Unis"  is  cur  own 
United  States,  "L'Angleterre"  England  and,  "L'Espagne" 
Spain. 


Noli    Me    Tangere    Quarter-Centennial    Series 
Edited    by    Austin    Craig 


The  Philippines 
A  Century  Hence 

BY  Jose  Rizal 


Manila  :     1912 

Philippine  Education  Company 

34  Escolta 


Copyright  1912 
BY  Austin  Craig 

Registered  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 


Introduction 


Oi<«'<i.^^»3^ 


Introduction. 

As  "Filipinas  dentro  deCien  Alios",  this  article 
was  originally  published  serially  in  the  Filipino 
fortnightly  review  "La  Solidaridad".  of  Madrid, 
running  through  the  issues  from  September, 
1889,  to  January,  1890. 

It  supplements  Rizal's  great  novel  "Noli  Me 
Tangere"  and  its  sequel  "El  Filibusterismo", 
and  the  translation  here  given  is  fortunately  by 
Mr.  Charles  Derbyshire  who  in  his  "The  Social 
Cancer"  and  "The  Reign  of  Greed"  has  so  hap- 
pily rendered  into  English  those  masterpieces 
of  Rizal. 

The  reference  which  Doctor  Rizal  makes  to 
President  Harrison  had  in  mind  the  grandson- 
of-his-grandfather's  blundering,  wavering  policy 
that,  because  of  a  groundless  fear  of  infringing 
the  natives'  natural  rights,   put  his  country  in 


10  INTRODUCTION 

the  false  light  of  wanting  to  share  in  Samoa's 
exploitation,  taking  the  leonine  portion,  too, 
along  with  Germany  and  England. 

Robert  Louis  Stevenson  has  told  the  story  of 
the  unhappy  condition  created  by  that  disas- 
trous international  agreement  which  was  achiev- 
ed by  the  dissembling  diplomats  of  greedy 
Europe  flattering  unsophisticated  America  into 
believing  that  two  monarchies  preponderating 
in  an  alliance  with  a  republic  would  be  fairer 
than  the  republic  acting  unhampered. 

In  its  day  the  scheme  was  acclaimed  by  ir- 
rational idealists  as  a  triumph  of  American 
abnegation  and  an  example  of  modern  altruism. 
It  resulted  that  "the  international  agreement" 
became  a  constant  cause  of  international  dis- 
agreements, as  any  student  of  history  could 
have  foretold,  until,  disQ:usted  and  disillusioned, 
the  United  States  tardily  recalled  Washington's 
warning  against  entanglements  with  foreign 
powers  and  became  a  party  to  a  real  partition. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

but  this  time  playing  the  lamb's  part.  England 
was  compensated  with  concessions  in  other 
parts  of  the  world,  the  United  States  was  "given" 
what  it  already  held  under  a  cession  twenty- 
seven  years  old, — and  Germany  took  the  rest 
as  her  emperor  had  planned  from  the  start. 

There  is  this  Philippine  bearing  to  the 
incident  that  the  same  stripe  of  unpractical 
philanthropists,  not  discouraged athaving  forced 
the  Samoans  under  the  ungentle  German  rule — 
for  their  victims  and  not  themselves  suffer  by 
their  mistakes,  are  seeking  now  the  neutraliza- 
tion by  international  agreement  of  the  Archi- 
pelago for  which  Rizal  gave  his  life.  Their 
success  would  mean  another  "entangling 
alliance"  for  the  United  States,  with  six  allies, 
or  nine  including  Holland,  China  and  Spain,  if 
the  "great  republic"  should  be  allowed  by  the 
diplomats  of  the  "Great  Powers"  to  invite  these 
nonentities  in  world  politics,  with  whom  she 
would  still  be  outvoted. 


12  INTRODUCTION 

Rizal's  reference  to  America  as  a  possible 
factor  in  the  Philippines'  future  is  based  upon 
the  prediction  of  the  German  traveller  Feodor 
Jagor,  who  about  1860  spent  a  number  of 
months  in  the  Islands  and  later  published  his 
observations,  supplemented  by  ten  years  of 
further  study  in  European  libraries  and  mu- 
seums, as  "Travels  in  the  Philippines",  to  use 
the  title  of  the  English  translation, — a  very 
poor  one,  by  the  way.  Rizal  read  the  much 
better  Spanish  version  while  a  student  in  the 
Ateneo  de  Manila,  from  a  copy  supplied  by 
Paciano  Rizal  Mercado  who  directed  his  younger 
brother's  political  education  and  transferred 
to  Jose  the  hopes  which  had  been  blighted  for 
himself  by  the  execution  of  his  beloved  teacher, 
Father  Burgos,  in  the  Cavite  alleged  insurrec- 
tion. 

Jagor's  prophecy  furnishes  the  explanation  to 
Rizal's  public  life.  His  policy  of  preparing  his 
countrymen     for    industrial    and    commercial 


INTRODUCTION  13 

competition  seems  to  have  had  its  inspiration 
in  this  reading  done  when  he  was  a  youth  in 
years  but  mature  in  fact  through  close  contact 
Avith  tragic  public  events  as'well  as  with  sensa- 
tional private  sorrows. 

When  in  Berlin,  Doctor  Rizal  met  Professor 
Jagor,  and  the  distinguished  geographer  and 
his  youthful  but  brilliant  admirer  became  fast 
friends,  often  discussing  how  the  progress  of 
events  was  bringing  true  the  fortune  for  the 
Philippines  which  the  knowledge  of  its  history 
and  the  acquaintance  with  its  then  condition 
had  enabled  the  trained  observer  to  foretell 
with  that  same  certainty  that  the  meteorologist 
foretells  the  morrow's  weather. 

A  like  political  acumen  Rizal  tried  to 
develop  in  his  countrymen.  He  republished 
Morga's  History  (first  published  in  Mexico  in 
1609)  to  recall  their  past.  Noli  Me  Tangere 
painted  their  present,  and  in  El  Filibusterismo 
was  sketchod  the  future  which  continuance  upon 


14  INTRODUCTION 

their  thea  course  must  bring.  "The  Philippines 
A  Century  Hence"  suggests  other  possiblities, 
and  seems  to  have  been  the  initial  issue  in  the 
series  of  ten  which  Rizal  planned  to  print,  one 
a  year,  to  correct  the  misunderstanding  of  his 
previous  writings  which  had  come  from  their 
being  known  mainly  by  the  extracts  cited  in 
the  censors'  criticism. 

Jose  Rizal  in  life  voiced  the  aspirations  of  his 
countrymen  and  as  the  different  elements  in  his 
divided  native  land  recognized  that  these  were 
the  essentials  upon  which  all  were  agreed  and 
that  their  points  of  difference  among  themselves 
were  not  vital,  dissension  disappeared  and  there 
came  an  united  Philippines.  Now,  since  his 
death,  the  fact  that  both  continental  and  insular 
Americans  look  to  him  as  their  hero  makes  pos- 
sible the  hope  that  misunderstandings  based  on 
differences  as  to  details  may  cease  when  Fili- 
pinos recognize  that  the  American  Government 
in  the  Philippines,  properly  approached,  is  will- 


INTRODUCTION  15 

ing  to  grant  all  that  Rizal  considered  import- 
ant, and  when  Americans  understand  that  the 
people  of  the  Philippines,  unaccustomed  to  the 
frank  discussions  of  democracy,  would  be  con- 
tent with  so  little  even  as  Rizal  asked  of  Spain 
if  only  there  were  some  salve  for  their  unwit- 
tingly wounded  «mor  iiropio. 

A  better  knowledge  of  the  writings  of  Jose 
Rizal  may  accomplish  this  desirable  consum- 
mation. 


1  do  not  write  for  this  generation.  I  am  writ- 
ing for  other  ages.  If  this  could  read  me,  they 
would  burn  my  books,  the  work  of  my  whole  life. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  generation  which  interprets 
these  writings  will  be  an  educated  generation;  they 
will  understand  me  and  say:  Not  all  were  asleep 
in  the  night-time  of  our  grandparents'." 
— The  Philosopher  'Tasio,  in  Noli  Me  Tangere. 


The  Prophecy  which  Prompted 

RiZAL's  Policy  oe  Preparation 

FOR  the  Philippines 


jAGOR's  Prophecy 

This  extract  is  translated  from  Pages  287-289 
of  "Reisen  in  den  Philippinen  von  F.  Jagor: 
Berlin  1873". 

"The  old  situation  is  no  longer  possible  of 
maintenance,  with  the  changed  conditions  of 
the  present  time. 

"The  coloty  can  no  longer  be  kept  secluded 
from  the  world.  Every  facility  afforded  for 
commercial  intercourse  is  a  blow  to  the  old 
system,  and  a  great  step  made  in  the  direction 
of  broad  and  liberal  reforms.  The  more  foreign 
capital  and  foreign  ideas  and  customs  are  in- 
troduced, increasing  the  prosperity,  enlighten- 
ment, and  self  respect  of  the  population,  the 
more  impatiently  will  the  existing  evils  be 
endured. 

"England  can  and  does  open  her  possessions 
unconcernedly  to  the  world.  The  British  col- 
onies are  united  to  the  mother  country  by  the 


20  .TAGOR'S  PROPHECY 

bond  of  mutual  advantage,  viz.,  the  production 
of  raw  material  by  means  of  English  capital, 
and  the  exchange  of  the  same  for  English 
manufactures.  The  wealth  of  England  is  so 
great,  the  organization  of  her  commerce  with 
the  world  so  complete,  that  nearly  all  tlie  for- 
eigners even  in  the  British  possessions  are  for 
the  most  part  agents  for  English  business 
houses,  which  would  scarcely  be  affected,  at 
least  to  any  marked  extent,  by  a  political  dis- 
memberment. It  is  entirely  different  with 
Spain,  which  possesses  the  colony  as  an  inherit- 
ed property,  and  without  the  power  of  turning 
it  to  any  useful  account. 

"Government  monopolies  rigorously  maintain- 
ed, insolent  disregard  and  neglect  of  the  half- 
castes  and  powerful  Creoles,  and  the  example  of 
the  United  States,  were  the  chief  reasons  of  the 
downfall  of  the  American  possessions.  The 
same  causes  threaten  ruin  to  the  Philippines; 
but  of  the  monopolies  i  have  said  enough. 


JAGOR'S   PROPHECY  21 

"Half-castes  and  Creoles,  it  is  true,  are  not,  as 
they  formerly  were  in  America,  excluded  from 
all  official  appointments;  but  they  feel  deeply 
hurt  and  injured  through  the  crowds  of  place- 
hunters  which  the  frequent  changes  of  Ministers 
send  to  Manila. 

"Also  the  influence  of  American  elements  is  at 
least  discernible  on  the  horizon,  and  will  come 
more  to  the  front  as  the  relations  of  the  two 
countries  grow  closer.  At  present  these  are 
still  of  little  importance;  in  the  meantime  com- 
merce follows  its  old  routes,  which  lead  to 
England  and  the  Atlantic  ports  of  the  Union. 
Nevertheless,  he  who  attempts  to  form  a  judg- 
ment as  to  the  future  destiny  of  the  Philippines 
cannot  fix  his  gaze  only  on  their  relations  to 
Spain;  he  must  also  consider  the  mighty  changes 
which  within  a  few  decades  are  being  effected 
on  that  side  of  our  planet.  For  the  first  time 
in  the  world's  history,  the  gigantic  nations  on 
both  sides  of  a  gigantic  ocean  are  beginning  to 


22  JAGOR'S   PROPHECY 

come  into  direct  intercourse:  Russia,  which 
alone  is  greater  than  two  divisions  of  the  world 
together;  China,  which  within  her  narrow  bounds 
contains  a  third  of  the  human  race;  America, 
with  cultivable  soil  enough  to  support  almost 
three  times  the  entire  population  of  the  earth. 
Russia's  future  role  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  at 
present  baffles  all  calculations.  The  intercourse 
of  the  two  other  powers  will  probably  have  all 
the  more  important  consequences  when  the  ad- 
justment between  the  immeasurable  necessity 
for  human  labor-power  on  the  one  hand,  and  a 
correspondingly  great  surplus  of  that  power  on 
the  other,  shall  fall  on  it  as  a  problem." 

"The  world  of  the  ancients  was  confined  to 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean;  and  the 
Atlantic  and  Indian  Oceans  sufficed  at  one  time 
for  our  traffic.  When  first  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific  re-echoed  with  the  sounds  of  active 
commerce,  the  trade  of  the  world  and  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  may   be  really   said  to   have 


JAGOR'S   PROPHECY  23 

begun.  A  start  in  that  direction  has  been 
made;  whereas  not  so  very  long  ago  the  im- 
mense ocean  was  one  wide  waste  of  waters,  tra- 
versed from  both  points  only  once  a  year. 
From  1603  to  1769  scarcely  a  ship  had  ever 
visited  California,  that  wonderful  country  which, 
twenty-five  years  ago,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  places  on  the  coast,  was  an  unknown  wilder- 
ness, but  which  is  now  covered  with  flourishing 
and  prosperous  towns  and  cities,  divided  from 
sea  to  sea  by  a  railway,  and  its  capital  already 
ranking  among  the  world's  greatest  seaports. 

"But  in  proportion  as  the  commerce  of  the 
western  coast  of  America  extends  the  influence 
of  the  American  elements  over  the  South  Sea, 
the  ensnaring  spell  which  the  great  republic 
exercises  over  the  Spanish  colonies  will  not  fail 
to  assert  itself  in  the  Philippines  also.  The 
Americans  appear  to  be  called  upon  to  bring  the 
germ  planted  by  the  Spaniards  to  its  full  devel- 
opment.    As  conquerors  of   the    New    World, 


24  JAGOR'S   PROPHECY 

representatives  of  the  body  of  free  citizens  in 
contradistinction  to  the  nobility,  they  follow 
with  the  axe  and  plow  of  the  pioneer  where  the 
Spaniards  had  opened  the  way  with  cross  and 
sword.  A  considerable  part  of  Spanish  America 
already  belongs  to  the  United  States,  and  has, 
since  that  occurred,  attained  an  importance 
which  could  not  have  been  anticipated  either 
during  Spanish  rule  or  during  the  anarchy  which 
ensued  after  and  from  it.  In  the  long  run,  the 
Spanish  system  cannot  prevail  over  the  Amer- 
ican. While  the  former  exhausts  the  colonies 
through  direct  appropriation  of  them  to  the 
privileged  classes,  and  the  metropolis  through 
the  drain  of  its  best  forces  (with,  besides,  a 
feeble  population),  America  draws  to  itself  the 
most  energetic  element  from  all  lands;  and  these 
on  her  soil,  free  from  all  trammels,  and  restlessly 
pushing  forward,  are  continually  extending  fur- 
ther her  power  and  iniduence.  The  Philippines 
will  so  much  the  less  escape  the  influence  of  the 


JAGOR'S    PROPHECY  25 

two  great  neighboring  empires,  since  neither 
the  ishmds  nor  their  metropolis  are  in  a  condi- 
tion of  stable  equilibrium,  it  seems  desirable 
for  the  natives  that  the  opinions  here  expressed 
shall  not  too  soon  be  realized  as  facts,  for  their 
training  thus  far  has  not  sufficiently  prepared 
them  for  success  in  the  contest  with  those  rest- 
less, active,  most  inconsiderate  peoples;  they 
have  dreamed  away  their  youth." 


The  Philippines  A  Century  Hence 


The  Philippines  A  Century   Hence 

1. 

T?OLLOWING  our  usual  custom  of  facing 
squarely  the  most  difficult  and  delicate 
questions  relating  to  the  Philippines,  without 
weighing  the  consequences  that  our  frankness 
may  bring  upon  us,  we  shall  in  the  present 
article  treat  of  their  future. 

In  order  to  read  the  destiny  of  a  people,  it  is 
necessary  to  open  the  book  of  its  past,  and  this, 
for  the  Philippines,  may  be  reduced  in  general 
terms  to  what  follows. 

Scarcely  had  they  been  attached  to  the 
Spanish  crown  than  they  had  to  sustain  with 
their  blood  and  the  efforts  of  their  sons  the 
wars  and  ambitions  of  conquest  of  the  Spanish 
people,  and  in  these  struggles,  in  that  terrible 


32    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

crisis  when  a  people  changes  its  form  of  govern- 
ment, its  laws,  usages,  customs,  religion  and 
beliefs  the  Philippines  were  depopulated,  im- 
poverished and  retarded — caught  in  their  meta- 
morphosis, without  confidence  in  their  past, 
without  faith  in  their  present  and  with  no  fond 
hope  for  the  years  to  come.  The  former  rulers 
who  had  merel}''  endeavored  to  secure  the  fear 
and  submission  of  their  subjects,  habituated 
by  them  to  servitude,  fell  like  leaves  from  a 
dead  tree,  and  the  people,  who  had  no  love  for 
them  nor  knew  what  liberty  was,  easily  changed 
masters,  perhaps  hoping  to  gaiii  something  by 
the  innovation. 

Then  began  a  new  era  for  the  Filipinos. 
They  gradually  lost  their  ancient  traditions, 
their  recollections — they  forgot  their  writings, 
their  songs,  their  poetry,  their  laws,  in  order  to 
learn  by  heart  other  doctrines,  which  they  did 
not  understand,  other  ethics,  other  tastes,  dif- 
ferent from  those  inspired  in  their  race  by  their 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    33 

climate  and  their  way  of  thinking.  Then  there 
was  a  fallinor-off,  they  were  lowered  in  their 
own  eyes,  they  became  ashamed  of  what  was 
distinctively  their  own,  in  order  to  admire  and 
praise  what  was  foreign  and  incomprehensible: 
their  spirit  was  broken  and  they  acquiesced. 

Thus  years  and  centuries  rolled  on .  Eeligious 
shows,  rites  that  caught  the  eye,  songs,  lights, 
images  arrayed  with  gold,  worship  in  a  strange 
language,  legends,  miracles  and  sermons,  hyp- 
notized the  already  naturally  superstitious  spirit 
of  the  country,  but  did  not  succeed  in  destroy- 
ing it  altogether,  in  spite  of  the  whole  system 
afterwards  developed  and  operated  with  un- 
yielding tenacity. 

When  the  ethical  abasement  of  the  inhabitants 
had  reached  this  stage,  when  they  had  become 
disheartened  and  disgusted  with  themselves,  an 
effort  was  made  to  add  the  final  stroke  for  re. 
ducing  so  many  dormant  wills  and  intellects  to 
nothingness,  in  order  to  make  of  the  individual 


34    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

a  sort  of  toiler,  a  brute,  a  beast  of  burden,  and 
to  develop  a  race  without  mind  or  heart.  Then 
the  end  sought  was  revealed,  it  was  taken  for 
granted,  the  race  was  insulted,  an  eifort  was 
made  to  deny  it  every  virtue,  every  human  char- 
acteristic, and  there  were  even  writers  and  pri- 
ests who  pushed  the  movement  still  further  by 
trying  to  deny  to  the  natives  of  the  country  not 
only  capacity  for  virtue  but  also  even  the  ten- 
dency to  vice. 

Then  this  which  they  had  thought  would  be 
death  was  sure  salvation.  Some  dying  persons 
are  restored  to  health  by  a  heroic  remedy. 

So  great  endurance  reached  its  climax  with 
the  insults,  and  the  lethargic  spirit  woke  to  life. 
His  sensitiveness,  the  chief  trait  of  the  native, 
was  touched,  and  while  he  had  had  the  forbear- 
ance to  suffer  and  die  under  a  foreign  flag,  he 
had  it  not  when  they  whom  he  served  repaid  his 
sacrifices  with  insults  and  jests.  Then  he  began 
to  study  himself  and  to  realize  his  misfortune. 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    35 

Those  who  had  not  expected  this  result,  like  all 
despotic  masters,  regarded  as  a  wrong  every 
complaint,  every  protest,  and  punished  it  with 
death,  endeavoring  thus  to  stifle  every  cry  of 
sorrow  with  blood,  and  they  made  mistake  after 
mistake. 

The  spirit  of  the  people  was  not  thereby  cowed, 
and  even  though  it  had  been  awakened  in  only 
a  few  hearts,  its  flame  nevertheless  was  surely 
and  consumingly  propagated,  thanks  to  abrses 
and  the  stupid  endeavors  of  certain  classes 
to  stifle  noble  and  generous  sentiments.  Thus 
when  a  flame  catches  a  garment,  fear  and  con- 
fusion propagate  it  more  and  more,  and  each 
shake,  each  blow,  is  a  blast  from  the  bellows  to 
fan  it  into  life. 

Undoubtedly  during  all  this  time  there  were 
not  lacking  generous  and  noble  spirits  among 
the  dominant  race  that  tried  to  struggle  for  the 
rights  of  humanity  and  justice,  or  sordid  and 
cowardly  ones  among  the  dominated  that  aided 


3(5    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

the  debasement  of  their  own  country.  But  both 
were  exceptions  and  we  are  speaking  in  general 
terms. 

»Snch  is  an  outline  of  their  past.  We  know 
their  present.     Now,  what  will  their  future  be? 

Will  the  Philippine  Islands  continue  to  be  a 
Spanish  colony,  and  if  so,  what  kind  of  colony? 
Will  they  become  a  province  of  Spain,  with  or 
without  autonomy?  And  to  reach  this  stage, 
what  kind  of  sacrifices  will  have  to  be  made? 

Will  they  be  separated  from  the  mother 
country  to  live  independently,  to  fall  into  the 
hands  of  other  nations,  or  to  ally  themselves 
with  neighboring  powers? 

It  is  impossible  to  reply  to  these  questions, 
for  to  ail  of  them  both  yrs  and  no  may  be 
answered,  according  to  the  time  desired  to  be 
covered.  When  there  is  in  nature  no  fixed 
condition,  how  much  less  must  there  be  in  the 
life  of  a  people,  beings  endowed  with  mobility 
and  movement!     So  it  is  that  in  order  to  deal 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    37 

with  these  questions,  it  is  necessary  to  presume 
an  unlimited  period  of  time,  and  in  accordance 
therewith  try  to  forecast  futiire  events. 


II 


II. 

'I  X  THAT  will  become  of  the  Philippines  with- 
in a  century?     Will  they  continue  to 
ba  a  Spanish  colony? 

Had  this  question  been  asked  three  centuries 
ago,  when  at  Legazpi's  death  the  Malayan  Fili- 
pinos began  to  be  gradually  undeceived  and, 
finding  the  yoke  heavy,  tried  in  vain  to  shake  it 
off,  without  any  doubt  whatsoever  the  reply 
would  have  been  easy.  To  a  spirit  enthusiastic 
over  the  liberty  of  the  country,  to  those  uncon- 
querable Kagayanes  who  nourished  within 
themselves  the  spirit  of  the  Magalats,  to  the 
descendants  of  the  heroic  Gat  Pulintang  and 
Gat  Salakab  of  the  Province  of  Batangas, 
independence  was  assured,  it  was  merely  a  ques- 


42    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  (,'ENTURY  HENCE 

tion  of  getting  together  and  making  a  determin- 
ed effort.  But  for  him  who,  disillusioned  by  sad 
experience,  saw  everywhere  discord  and  dis- 
order, apathy  and  brutalization  in  the  lower 
classes,  discouragement  and  disunion  in  the 
upper,  only  one  answer  presented  itself,  and  it 
was:  extend  his  hands  to  the  chains,  bow  his 
neck  beneath  the  yoke  and  accept  the  future 
with  the  resignation  of  an  invalid  who  watches 
the  leaves  fall  and  foresees  a  long  winter  amid 
whose  snows  he  discerns  the  outlines  of  his 
grave.  At  that  time|discord  justified  pessimism 
— but  three  centuries  passed,  the  neck  had  be- 
come accustomed  to  the  yoke,  and  each  new 
generation,  begotten  in  chains,  was  constantly 
better  adapted  to  the  new  order  of  things. 

Now,  then,  are  the  Philippines  in  the  same 
condition  they  were  three  centuries  ago? 

For  the  liberal  Spaniards  the  ethical  condi- 
tion of  the  people  remains  the  same,  that  is, 
the  native  Filipinos  have  not  advanced;  for  the 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    43 

friars  and  their  followers  the  people  have  been 
redeemed  from  savagery,  that  is,  they  have 
progressed;  for  many  Filipinos  ethics,  spirit 
and  customs  have  decayed,  as  decay  all  the 
good  qualities  of  a  people  that  falls  into  slavery 
that  is,  they  have  retrograded. 

Laying  aside  these  considerations,  so  as  not 
to  get  away  from  our  subject,  let  us  draw  a 
brief  parallel  between  the  political  situation 
then  and  the  situation  at  present,  in  order  to 
see  if  what  was  not  possible  at  that  time  can  be 
so  now,  or  vice  versa. 

Let  us  pass  over  the  loyalty  the  Filipinos 
may  feel  for  Spain;  let  us  suppose  for  a  moment, 
along  Avith  Spanish  writers,  that  there  exist 
only  motives  for  hatred  and  jealousy  between 
the  two  races;  let  us  admit  the  assertions 
flaunted  by  many  that  three  centuries  of  domi- 
nation have  not  awakened  in  the  sensitive 
heart  of  the  native  a  single  spark  of  affection 
or  gratitude;  and  we  may  see  whether  or  not 


44    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

the  Spanish  cause    has  gained  ground  in   the 
Islands. 

Formerly  the  Spanish  authority  was  upheld 
among  the  natives  by  a  handful  of  soldiers, 
three  to  five  hundred  at  most,  many  of  whom 
were  engaged  in  trade  and  were  scattered  about 
not  only  in  the  Islands  but  also  among  the 
neighboring  nations,  occupied  in  long  wars 
against  the  Mohammedans  in  the  south,  against 
the  British  and  Dutch,  and  ceaselessly  harassed 
by  Japanese,  Chinese,  or  some  tribe  in  the 
interior  Then  communication  with  Mexico 
and  Spain  was  slow,  rare  and  difficult;  frequent 
and  violent  the  disturbances  among  the  ruling 
powers  in  the  Islands,  the  treasury  nearly 
always  empty,  and  the  life  of  the  colonists 
dependent  upon  one  frail  ship  that  handled  the 
Chinese  trade.  Then  the  seas  in  those  regions 
were  infested  with  pirates,  all  enemies  of  the 
Spanish  name,  which  was  defended  by  an  im- 
provised fleet,  generally  manned  by  rude  ad- 
venturers, when  not  by  foreigners  and  enemies, 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    45 

as  happened  in  the  expedition  of  Gomez  Perez 
Dasmarinas,  which  was  checked  and  frustrated 
bj  the  mutiny  of  the  Chinese  rowers,  who  killed 
him  and  thwarted  all  his  plans  and  schemes. 
Yet  in  spite  of  so  many  adverse  circumstances 
the  Spanish  authority  has  been  upheld  for  more 
than  three  centuries  and,  though  it  has  been 
curtailed,  still  continues  to  rule  the  destinies  of 
the  Philippine  group. 

On  the  other  hani,the  present  situation  seems 
to  be  gilded  and  rosy — as  we  might  say,  a  beau- 
tiful morning  compared  to  the  vexed  and  stormy 
night  of  the  past.  The  material  forces  at  the 
disposal  of  the  Spanish  sovereign  have  now  been 
trebled;  the  fleet  relatively  improved;  there  is 
more  organization  in  both  civil  and  military  af- 
fairs; communication  with  the  sovereign  country 
is  swifter  and  surer;  she  has  no  enemies  abroad; 
her  possession  is  assured;  and  the  country  domi- 
nated seems  to  have  less  spirit,  less  aspiration 
for  independence,  a  word  that  is  to  it  almost 
incomprehensible.     Everything    then    at    first 


46    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

glance  presages  another  three  centuries,  at  least, 
of  peaceful  domination  and  tranquil  suzerainty. 

But  above  the  material  considerations  are 
arising  others,  invisible,  of  an  ethical  nature,  far 
more  powerful  and  transcendental. 

Orientals,  and  the  Malays  in  particular,  are 
asensitivepeople:  delicacy  of  sentimentispredom- 
inant  witli  them.  Even  now,  in  spite  of  contact 
with  the  occidental  nations,  who  have  ideals 
different  from  his,  we  see  the  Ma  layan  Filipino 
sacrifice  everything- — liberty, ease,  welfare,name, 
for  the  sake  of  an  aspiration  or  a  conceit,  some- 
times scientific,  or  of  some  other  nature,  but  at 
the  least  word  which  wounds  his  self-love  he 
forgets  all  his  sacrifices,  the  labor  expended,  to 
treasure  in  his  memory  and  never  forget  the 
slight  he  thinks  he  has  received. 

So  the  Philippine  peoples  have  remained  faith- 
ful during  three  centuries,  giving  up  their  liberty 
and  their  independence,   sometimes  dazzled  by 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    47 

the  liope  of  the  Paradise  promised,  sometimes 
cajoled  bj  the  friendship  offered  them  by  a  noble 
and  generous  people  like  the  Spanish,  sometimes 
also  compelled  by  superiority  of  arms  of  which 
they  were  ignorant  and  which  timid  spirits  in- 
vested with  a  mysterious  character,  or  sometimes 
because  the  invading  foreigner  took  advantage 
of  intestine  feuds  to  step  in  as  the  peacemaker 
in  discord  and  thus  later  to  dominate  both  par- 
ties and  subject  them  to  his  authority. 

Spanish  domination  once  established,  it  was 
firmly  maintained,  thanks  to  the  attachment  of 
the  people,  to  their  mutual  dissensions,  and  to 
the  fact  that  the  sensitive  self-love  of  the 
native  had  not  jet  been  wounded.  Then  the 
people  saw  their  own  countrymen  in  the  higher 
ranks  of  the  army,  their  general  officers  fight- 
ing beside  the  heroes  of  Spain  and  sharing  their 
laurels,  begrudged  neither  character,  reputation 
nor  consideration;  then  fidelity  and  attachment 
to  Spain,   love  of  the  fatherland,    made  of   the 


48    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

native,  encomendero  *  and  even  general,  as  during 
the  English  invasion;  then  there  had  not  yet  been 
invented  the  insulting  and  ridiculous  epithets 
with  which  recently  the  most  laborious  and 
painful  achievments  of  the  native  leaders  have 
been  stigmatized;  not  then  had  it  become  the 
fashion  to  insult  and  slander  in  stereotyped 
phrase,  in  newspapers  and  books  published  with 
governmental  and  superior  ecclesiastical  approv- 
al, the  people  that  paid,  fought  and  poured  out 
its  blood  for  the  Spanish  name,  nor  was  it 
considered  either  nolile  or  witty  to  offend  a 
whole  race,  which  was  forbidden  to  reply  or 
defend  itself;  and  if  there  were  religious  hypo- 
chondriacs w^ho  in  the  leisure  of  their  cloisters 
dared  to  w^ite  against  it,  as  did  tlie  Augustiniaii 


*  An  enwnienderd  was  a  Spanish  soldier  who  as 
a  reward  for  faithlul  service  was  set  over  a  dis- 
trict with  power  to  collect  tribute  and  the  duty 
of  providing'  the  people  with  leg-al  protection  and 
religious  instruction.  This  arrangement  is  memo- 
rable in  early  Philippine  anuals  chiefly  for  the 
flagrant  abuses  that  appear  to  have  characterized  it. 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    49 

Gaspar  de  San  Agustin  and  the  Jesnit  Velarde, 
their  loathsome  abortions  never  saw  the  light, 
and  still  less  were  they  themselves  rewarded 
with  miters  and  raised  to  high  offices.  True  it 
is  that  neither  were  the  natives  of  that  time 
such  as  we  are  now:  three  centuries  of  brut- 
alization  and  obscurantism  have  necessarily  had 
some  influence  upon  us,  the  most  beautiful  work 
of  divinity  in  the  hands  of  certain  artisans  may 
finally  be  converted  into  a  caricature. 

The  priests  of  that  epoch,  wishing  to  establish 
their  domination  over  the  people,  got  in  touch 
with  it  and  made  common  cause  with  it  against 
the  oppressive  encomenderos.  Naturally,  the 
people  saw  in  them  greater  learning  and  some 
prestige  and  placed  its  confidence  in  them, 
followed  their  advice,  and  listened  to  them  even 
in  the  darkest  hours.  If  they  wrote,  they  did 
so  in  defense  of  the  rights  of  the  native  and 
made  his  cry  reach  even  to  the  distant  steps  of 
the  Throne.     And  not  a  few  priests,  both  secular 


50    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

and  regular,  undertook  dangerous  journeys,  as 
representatives  of  the  country,  and  this,  along 
with  the  strict  and  public  re.sidencia  *  then 
required  of  the  governing  powers,  from  the 
captain-general  to  the  most  insignificant  of- 
ficial, rather  consoled  and  pacified  the  wounded 
spirits,  satisfying,  even  though  it  were  only  in 
form,  all  the  malcontents. 

All  this  has  passed  away.  The  deri'^ive 
laughter  penetrates  like  mortal  poison  into  the 
heart  of  the  native  who  pays  and  suflFers  and  it 
becomes  more  offensive  the  more  immunity  it 
enjoys.  A  common  sore,  the  general  affront 
offered  to  a  whole  race,  has  wiped  away  the  old 
feuds  among  different  provinces.  The  people 
no  longer  has  confidence  in  its  former  protec- 


*  No  official  was  allowed  to  leave  the  Islands  at  the 
expit'ation  of  his  term  of  office  until  his  successor  or  a 
council  appointed  by  the  .sovereijfn  inquired  into  all  the 
acts  of  his  administration  and  approved  them.  (This 
resldencia  was  a  fertle  source  of  recrimination  and  re- 
taliation, so  the  author  quite  aptly  refers  to  it  a  little 
further  on  as  "the  ancient  show  of  justice." 


THE  PHILIPPINKS  A  CENTURY  HENCE    51 

tors,  now  its  exploiters  and  executioners.  The 
masks  have  fallen.  It  has  seen  that  the  love 
and  piety  of  the  past  have  come  to  resemble  the 
devotion  of  a  nurse  who,  unable  to  live  else- 
where, desires  eternal  infancy,  eternal  weakness, 
for  the  child  in  order  to  go  on  drawing  her 
wages  and  existing  at  its  expense;  it  has  seen 
not  only  that  she  does  not  nourish  it  to  make 
it  grow  but  that  she  poisons  it  to  stunt  its 
growth,  and  at  the  slightest  protest  she  flies  into 
a  rage!  The  ancient  show  of  justice,  the  holy 
residencia,  has  disappeared;  confusion  of  ideas 
begins  to  prevail;  the  regard  shown  for  a 
governor-general,  like  La  Torre,  becomes  a 
crime  in  the  government  of  his  successor,  suf- 
ficient to  cause  the  citizen  to  lose  his  liberty 
and  his  home;  if  he  obey  the  order  of  one  official, 
as  in  the  recent  matter  of  admitting  corpses 
into  the  church,  it  is  enough  to  have  the  obedi- 
ent subject  later  harassed  and  persecuted  in 
every  possible  way;  obligations  and  taxes  in- 
crease without  thereby  increasing  rights,  pri- 


52    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

vileges  and  liberties  or  assuring  the  few  in 
existence;  a  regime  of  continual  terror  and 
uncertainty  disturbs  the  minds,  a  regime  worse 
than  a  period  of  disorder,  for  the  fears  that  the 
imagination  conjures  up  are  generally  greater 
than  the  reality;  the  country  is  poor;  the 
financial  crisis  through  which  it  is  passing  is 
acute,  and  every  one  points  out  with  the  finger 
the  persons  who  are  causing  the  trouble,  yet  no 
one  dares  lay  hands  upon  tbem! 

True  it  is  that  tbe  Penal  Code  has  come  like 
a  drop  of  balm  to  such  bitterness.  *  But  of  wliat 
use  are  all  the  codes  in  the  world,  if  by  means 
of  confidential  reports,  if  for  trifling  reasons,  if 
through  anonymous  traitors  any  honest  citizen 
may  be  exiled  or  banished  without  a  hearing, 
without  a  trial?  Of  what  use  is  that  Penal 
Code,  of  what  use  is  life,  if  there  is  no  security 
in  the  home,  no  faith  in  justice  and  confidence 


*  The  penal  code  was  promulgated  in  tiie  Islands  by 
Royal  Order  of  September  4,  1884. 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    53 

in  tranquility  of  conscience?  Of  what  use  is 
all  that  arra}'  of  terms,  all  that  collection  of 
articles,  when  the  cowardly  accusation  of  a 
traitor  has  more  influence  in  the  timorous  ears 
of  the  supreme  autocrat  than  all  the  cries  for 
justice? 

If  this  state  of  affairs  should  continue,  what 
will  become  of  the  Philippines  within  a  century? 

The  batteries  are  gradually  becoming  charged 
and  if  the  prudence  of  the  government  does  not 
provide  an  outlet  for  the  currents  that  are  ac- 
cumulating, some  day  the  spark  will  be  gene- 
rated. This  is  not  the  place  to  speak  of  what 
outcome  such  a  deplorable  conflict  might  have, 
for  it  depends  upon  chance,  upon  the  weapons 
and  upon  a  thousand  circumstances  which  man 
can  not  foresee.  But  even  though  all  the  ad- 
vantage should  be  on  the  government's  side  and 
therefore  the  probability  of  success,  it  would  be 
a  Pyrrhic  victory,  and  no  government  ought  to 
desire  such. 


54    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

If  those  who  guide  the  destinies  of  the  Philip- 
pines remain  obstinate,  and  instead  of  introduc- 
ing reforms  try  to  make  the  condition  of  the 
country  retrograde,  to  push  their  severity  and 
repression  to  extremes  against  the  classes  that 
suffer  and  think,  they  are  going  to  force  the 
latter  to  venture  and  put  into  play  the 
wretchedness  of  ati  unquiet  life,  filled  with 
privation  and  bitterness,  against  the  hope  of 
securing  something  indefinite.  What  would  be 
lost  in  the  struggle?  Almost  nothing:  the  life 
of  the  numerous  dicontented  classes  has  no  such 
great  attraction  that  it  should  be  preferred  to 
a  glorious  death.  It  may  indeed  be  a  suicidal 
attempt — but  then,  what?  Would  not  a  bloody 
chasm  yawn  between  victors  and  vanquished, 
and  might  not  the  latter  with  time  and  exper- 
ience become  equal  in  strength,  since  they  are 
superior  in  numbers,  to  their  dominators? 
Who  disputes  this?  All  the  petty  insurrections 
that  have  occurred  in  the  Philippines  were  the 


TEE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    55 

work  of  a  few  fanatics  or  discontented  soldiers, 
who  had  to  deceive  and  humbug  the  people  or 
avail  themselves  of  their  power  over  their 
subordinates  to  gain  their  ends.  So  they  all 
failed.  No  insurrection  had  a  popular  character 
or  was  based  on  a  need  of  the  whole  race  or 
fought  for  human  rights  or  justice,  so  it  left  no 
ineffaceable  impressions,  but  rather  when  they 
saw  that  they  had  been  duped  the  people  bound 
up  their  wounds  and  applauded  the  overthrow 
of  the  disturbers  of  their  peace !  But  what  if 
the  movement  springs  from  the  people  them- 
selves and  bases  its  cause  upon  their  woes? 

So  then,  if  the  prudence  and  wise  reforms  of 
our  ministers  do  not  hnd  capable  and  determined 
interpreters  among  the  colonial  governors  and 
faithful  perpetuators  among  those  whom  the 
frequent  political  changes  send  to  fill  such  a 
delicate  post;  if  met  with  the  eternal  it  is  out  of 
order,  proffered  by  the  elements  who  see  their 
livelihood  in  the  backwardness  of  their  subjects; 


56    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

if  just  claims  are  to  go  unheeded,  as  being  of  a 
subversive  tendency;  if  the  country  is  denied 
representation  in  the  Cortes  and  an  authorized 
voice  to  cry  out  against  all  kinds  of  abuses, 
which  escape  through  the  complexity  of  the 
laws;  if,  in  short,  the  system,  prolific  in  results 
of  alienating  the  good  will  of  the  natives,  is  to 
continue,  pricking  his  (tpafhetic  mind  with 
insults  and  charges  of  ingratitude,  we  can  as- 
sert that  in  a  fevsr  years  the  present  state  of  iif- 
fairs  will  have  been  modified  completely — and 
inevitably.  There  now  exists  a  factor  which 
was  formerly  lacking — the  spirit  of  the  nation 
has  been  aroused,  and  a  common  misfortune,  a 
common  debasement,  has  united  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Islands.  A  numerous  enlightened 
class  now  exists  within  and  without  the  Islands, 
a  class  created  and  continually  augmented  by 
the  stupidity  of  certain  governing  powers, 
which  forces  the  inhabitants  to  leave  the 
country,  to  secure  education  abroad,  and  it  is 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    57 

maintained  and  struggles  thanks  to  the  provo- 
critions  and  the  system  of  espionage  in  vogue. 
This  class,  whose  number  is  cumulatively  in- 
creasing, is  in  constant  communication  with 
the  rest  of  the  Islands,  and  if  today  it  consti- 
tutes only  the  brain  of  the  country  in  a  few 
years  it  will  form  the  whole  nervous  system  and 
manifest  its  existence  in  all  its  acts. 

Now.  statecraft  has  various  means  at  its  dis- 
posal for  checking  a  people  on  the  road  to  pro- 
gress: the  brutalization  of  the  masses  through  a 
caste  addicted  to  the  government,  aristocratic, 
as  in  the  Dutch  colonies,  or  theocratic,  as  in  the 
Philippines;  the  impoverishment  of  the  country; 
the  gradual  extermination  of  the  inhabitants; 
and  the  fostering  of  feuds  among  the  races. 

Brutalization  of  the  Malayan  Filipino  has 
been  demonstrated  to  be  impossible.  In  spite 
of  the  dark  horde  of  friars,  in  whose  hands  rests 
the  instruction  of  youth,  which  miserably  wastes 
years  and  years  in    the   colleges,  issuing  there- 


58    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

from  tired,  weary  and  disgusted  with  books;  in 
spite  of  the  censorship,  which  tries  to  close  every 
avenue  to  progress;  in  spite  of  all  the  pulpits, 
confessionals,  books  and  missals  that  inculcate 
hatred  toward  not  only  all  scientific  knowledge 
but  even  toward  the  Spanish  language  itself;  in 
spite  of  this  whole  elaborate  system  perfected 
and  tenaciously  operated  by  those  who  wish  to 
keep  the  Islands  in  holy  ignorance,  there  exist 
writers,  freethinkers,  historians,  philosophers, 
chemists,  physicians,  artists  and  jurists.  En- 
lightenment is  spreading  and  the  persecution  it 
suffers  quickens  it.  No,  the  divine  tiame  of 
thought  is  inextinguishable  in  the  Filipino 
people  and  somehow  or  other  it  will  shine  forth 
and  compel  recognition.  It  is  impossible  to 
brutalize  the  inhabitants  of  the  Philippines! 

May  poverty  arrest  their  development? 

Perhaps,  but  it  is  a  very  dangerous  means. 
Experience  has  everywhere  shown  us  and  espe- 
cially in  the  Philippines,  that  the  classes  which 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    59 

are  better  off  have  always  been  addicted  to  peace 
and  order,  because  they  live  comparatively  bet- 
are  and  may  be  the  losers  in  civil  disturbances 
Wealth  brings  with  it  refinement,  the  spirit  of 
conservation,  while  poverty  inspires  adventurous 
ideas,  the  desire  to  change  things,  and  has  littles 
care  for  life.  Machiavelli  himself  held  this 
means  of  subjecting  a  people  to  be  perilous,  ob- 
serving that  loss  of  welfare  stirs  up  more  obdu- 
rate enemies  than  loss  of  life.  Moreover,  when 
there  are  wealth  and  abundance,  there  is  less 
discontent,  less  complaint,  and  the  government, 
itself  wealthier,  has  more  means  for  sustaining 
itself.  On  the  other  hand,  there  occurs  in  a 
poor  country  what  happens  in  a  house  where 
bread  is  wanting.  And  further,  of  what  use  to 
the  mother  country  would  a  poor  and  lean  col 
ony  be? 

Neither  is  it  possible  gradually  to  exterminate 
the  inhabitants.  The  Philippine  races,  like  all 
the  Malays,  do  not  succumb  before  the  foreigner. 


60    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

like  the  Australians,  the  Polynesians  and  the 
Indians  of  the  New  World,  in  spite  of  the 
numerous  wars  the  Filipinos  have  had  to  carry 
on,  in  spite  of  the  epidemics  that  have  periodi- 
cally visited  them,  their  number  has  trebled,  as 
has  that  of  the  Malaj  s  of  Java  and  the  Moluc- 
cas. The  Filipino  embraces  civilization  and 
lives  and  thrives  in  every  clime,  in  contact  vrith 
every  people.  Rum,  that  poison  which  exter- 
minated the  natives  of  the  Pacific  islands,  has 
no  power  in  the  Philippines,  but,  rather,  com- 
parison of  their  present  condition  with  that 
described  by  the  early  historians,  makes  it  ap- 
pear that  the  Filipinos  have  grown  soberer. 
The  petty  wars  with  the  inhabitants  of  the 
South  consume  only  the  soldiers,  people  who 
by  their  fidelity  to  the  Spanish  flag,  far  from  being 
a  menace,  are  surely  one  of  its  solidest  supports. 

There  remains  the  fostering  of  intestine  feuds 
among  the  provinces. 

This  was  formerly  possible,   when    communi- 
cation from  one  island  to  another  was  rare  and 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    HI 

difficult,  when  there  were  no  steamers  or  tele- 
graph-lines, when  the  regiments  were  formed 
according  to  the  various  provinces,  when  some 
provinces  were  cajoled  by  awards  of  privileges 
and  honors  and  others  were  protected  from  the 
strongest.  But  now  that  the  privileges  have 
disappeared,  that  through  a  spirit  of  distrust 
the  regiments  have  been  reorganized,  that  the 
inhabitants  move  from  one  island  to  another, 
communication  and  exchange  of  impressions 
naturally  increase,  and  as  all  see  themselves 
threatened  by  the  same  peril  and  wounded  in 
the  same  feelings,  they  clasp  hands  and  make 
common  cause.  It  is  true  that  the  union  is  not  yet 
wholly  perfected,  but  to  this  end  tend  the  meas- 
ures of  good  government,  the  vexations  to  which 
the  townspeople  are  subjected,  the  frequent 
changes  of  officials,  the  scarcity  of  centers  of 
learning,  which  forces  the  youth  of  all  the  Islands 
to  come  together  and  begin  to  get  acquainted. 
The  journeys  to  Europe  contribute  not  a  little 
to  tighten  the  bonds,  for  abroad  the  inhabitants 


62    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

of  the  most  widely  separated  provinces  are  im- 
pressed by  their  patriotic  feelings,  from  sailors 
even  to  the  wealthiest  merchants,  and  at  the 
siglit  of  modern  liberty  and  the  memory  of  the 
misfortunes  of  their  country,  they  embrace  and 
call  one  another  brothers. 

In  short,  then,  the  advancement  and  ethical 
progress  of  the  Philippines  are  inevitable,  are 
decreed  by  fate. 

The  Islands  cannot  remain  in  the  condition 
they  are  without  requiring  from  the  sovereign 
country  more  liberty  Mutatis  mutandis.  For 
new  men,  a  new  social  order. 

To  wish  that  the  alleged  child  remain  in  its 
swaddling-clothes  is  to  risk  that  it  may  turn 
against  its  nurse  and  flee,  tearing  away  the  old 
rags  that  bind  it. 

The  Philippines,  then,  will  remain  under 
Spanish  domination,  but  with  more  law  and 
greater  liberty,  or  they  will  declare  themselves 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    63 

independent,  after  steeping  themaelvea  and  the 
mother  country  in  blood. 

As  no  one  should  desire  or  hope  for  such  an 
unfortunate  rupture,  which  would  be  an  evil  for 
all  and  only  the  final  argument  in  the  most 
desperate  predicament,  let  us  see  by  what  forms 
of  peaceful  evolution  the  Islands  may  remain 
subjected  to  the  Spanish  authority  with  the 
very  least  detriment  to  the  rights,  interests  and 
dignity  of  both  parties. 


in 


III. 

TF  THE  Philippines  must  remain  under  the 
control  of  Spain,  they  will  necessarily  have 
to  be  transformed  in  a  political  sense,  for  the 
course  of  their  history  and  the  needs  of  their 
inhabitants  so  require.  This  we  demonstrated 
in  the  preceding  article. 

We  also  said  that  this  transformation  will  be 
violent  and  fatal  if  it  proceeds  from  the  ranks 
of  the  people,  but  peaceful  and  fruitful  if  it 
emanate  from  the  upper  classes. 

Some  governors  have  realized  this  truth,  and, 
impelled  by  their  patriotism,  have  been  trying 
to  introduce  needed  reforms  in  order  to  fore- 
stall events.  But  notwithstanding  all  that  have 
been  ordered  up  to  the  present  time,  they  have 


68    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

produced  scanty  results,  for  the  government  as 
well  as  for  the  country.  Even  those  that 
promised  only  a  happy  issue  have  at  times 
caused  injury,  for  the  simple  reason  that  they 
have  been  based  upon  unstable  grounds. 

We  said,  and  once  more  we  repeat,  and  will 
ever  assert,  that  reforms  which  have  a  palliative 
character  are  not  only  ineffectual  but  even 
prejudicial,  Avhen  the  government  is  confronted 
with  evils  that  must  be  cured  radicaU//.  And 
were  we  not  convinced  of  the  lif)nesty  and  rec- 
titude of  some  governors,  we  would  be  tempted 
to  say  that  all  the  partial  reforms  are  only 
plasters  and  salves  of  a  physician  who,  not 
knowing  how  to  cure  the  cancer,  and  not  daring 
to  root  it  out,  tries  in  this  way  to  alleviate  the 
patient's  sufferings  or  to  temporize  with  the 
cowardice  of  the  timid  and  ignorant. 

All  the  reforms  of  our  liberal  nnnisters  were, 
have  been,  are,  and  will  be  good — when  carried 
out. 


THK  PHILIPPINKS  A  CENTURY  HKNCE    &.) 

When  we  think  of  them,  we  are  reminded  of 
the  dieting  of  Sancho  Panza  in  his  Barataria 
Island.  He  took  his  seat  at  a  sumptuous  and 
well-appointed  table  "covered  with  fruit  and 
many  varieties  of  food  differently  prepared,  " 
but  between  the  wretch's  mouth  and  each  dish 
the  physician  Pedro  Rezio  iiiterposed  his  wand, 
saying,  "Take  it  away!"  The  dish  removed, 
Sancho  was  as  hungry  as  ever.  True  it  is  that 
the  despotic  Pedro  Rezio  gave  reasons,  which 
seem  to  have  been  written  by  Cervantes  especial- 
ly for  the  colonial  administrations:  "You  must 
not  eat,  Mr.  Governoi-,  except  according  to  the 
usage  and  custom  of  other  islands  where  there 
are  governors."  Something  was  found  to  be 
wrong  with  each  disli:  one  was  too  hot,  another 
too  moist,  and  so  on,  just  like  our  Pedro  Rezios 
on  both  sides  of  the  sea.  Great  good  did  his 
cook's  skill  do  Sancho!  * 

In  the  case  of  our  country,  the  reforms  take 


Cervantes'    "Don  Quijote,"    Part    II,    cliapter  47. 


70    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

the  place  of  the  dishes,  the  Philippines  are 
Sancho,  ^vhile  the  part  of  the  quack  physician 
is  played  by  many  persons,  interested  in  not 
having  the  dishes  touched,  perhaps  that  tliey 
may  themselves  get  the  benefit  of  them. 

The  result  is  that  the  long-suffering  Sancho, 
or  the  Philippines,  misses  his  liberty,  rejects 
all  government  and  ends  up  by  rebelling  against 
his  quack  physician. 

In  like  manner,  so  long  as  the  Philippine.s 
have  no  liberty  of  the  press,  have  no  voice  in 
the  Cortes  to  make  known  to  the  government 
and  to  the  nation  whether  or  not  their  decrees 
have  been  duly  obeyed,  whether  or  not  these 
benefit  the  country,  all  the  able  efforts  of  the 
colonial  ministers  will  meet  the  fate  of  the 
dishes  in  Barataria  Island. 

The  minister,  then,  who  wants  his  reforms  to 
be  reforms,  must  begin  by  declaring  the  press 
in  the  Philippines  free  and  by  instituting  Fili- 
pino delegates. 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    71 

The  press  free  in  the  Philippines,  because 
their  complaints  rarely  ever  reach  the  Peninsula, 
very  rarely,  and  if  they  do  they  are  so  secret, 
so  mysterious,  that  no  newspaper  dares  to  pub- 
lish them,  or  if  it  does  reproduce  them,  it  does 
so  tardily  and  badly. 

A  government  that  rules  a  country  from  a 
great  distance  is  the  one  that  has  the  most  need 
for  a  free  press,  more  so  even  than  the  govern- 
ment of  the  home  country,  if  it  wishes  to  rule 
rightly  and  fitly.  The  government  that  governs 
in  a  country  may  even  dispense  with  the  press  (if 
it  can),  because  it  is  on  the  ground,  because  it  has 
eyes  and  ears,  and  because  it  directlyobserves 
what  it  rules  and  administers.  But  the  govern- 
ment that  yocerns  from  afar  absolutely  requires 
that  the  truth  and  the  facts  reach  its  knowledge 
by  every  possible  channel,  so  that  it  may  weigh 
and  estimate  them  better,  and  this  need 
increases  when  a  country  like  the  Philippines  is 
concerned,    where   the    inhabitants  speak    and 


72    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

complaia  in  a  language  unknown  to  the  author- 
ities. To  govern  in  any  other  way  may  also  be 
called  governing,  but  it  is  to  govern  badly.  It 
amounts  to  pronouncing  judgment  after  hearing 
only  one  of  the  parties;  it  is  steering  a  ship 
without  reckoning  its  conditions,  the  state  of 
the  sea,  the  reefs  and  shoals,  the  direction  of 
the  winds  and  currents.  It  is  managing  a  house 
by  endeavoring  merely  to  give  it  polish  and  a 
fine  appearance  without  watching  the  money- 
chest,  without  looking  after  the  servants  and 
the  members  of  the  family. 

But  routine  is  a  declivity  down  which  many 
governments  slide,  and  routine  says  that  freedom 
of  the  press  is  dangerous.  Let  us  see  what 
History  says:  uprisings  and  revolutions  have 
always  occurred  in  countries  tyrannized  over, 
in  countries  where  human  thought  and  the 
human  heart  have  been  forced  to  remain  silent- 

If  the  great  Napoleon  had  not  tyrannized 
over  the  press,  perhaps  it  would  have  warned 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    73 

him  of  the  peril  into  which  he  was  hurled  and 
have  made  him  understand  that  tlie  people  were 
weary  and  the  earth  wanted  peace.  Perhaps 
his  genius,  instead  of  being  dissipated  in  for- 
eign aggrandizement,  would  have  become  inten- 
sive in  laboring  to  strengthen  his  position  and 
thus  have  assured  it.  Spain  herself  records  in 
her  history  more  revolutions  when  the  press 
was  gagged.  What  colonies  have  become 
independent  while  they  have  had  a  free  press 
and  enjoyed  liberty?  Is  it  preferable  to  govern 
blindly  or  to  govern  with  ample  knowledge? 

Some  one  will  answer  that  in  colonies  with  a 
free  press,  the  prestige  of  the  rulers,  that  prop 
of  false  governments,  will  be  greatly  imperiled. 
We  answer  that  the  prestige  of  the  nation  is 
preferable  to  that  of  a  few  individuals.  A 
nation  acquires  respect,  not  by  abetting  and 
concealing  abuses,  but  by  rebuking  and  punish- 
ing them.  Moreover,  to  this  prestige  is  ap- 
plicable what  Napoleon  said  about  great  men 


74    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

and  their  valets.  We,  who  endure  and  know 
all  the  false  pretensions  and  petty  persecutions 
of  those  sham  gods,  do  not  need  a  free  press 
in  order  to  recognize  them;  they  have  long  ago 
lost  their  prestige.  The  free  press  is  needed  by 
the  government,  the  government  which  still 
dreams  of  the  prestige  which  it  builds  upon 
mined  ground. 

We  say  the  same  about  tlie  Filipino  repre- 
sentatives. 

What  risks  does  the  government  see  in  them? 
One  of  three  things:  either  that  they  will  prove 
unruly,  become  political  trimmers,  or  act 
properly. 

Supposing  that  we  should  yield  to  the  most 
absurd  pessimism  and  admit  the  insult,  great 
for  the  Philippines,  but  still  greater  for  Spain, 
that  all  the  representatives  would  be  separatists 
and  that  in  all  their  contentions  they  would 
advocate  separatist  ideas:  does  not  a  patriotic 
Spanish    majority  exist  there,  is  there  not  pre- 


THK  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    75 

sent  there  the  vi<^ilance  of  the  governing  powers 
to  combat  and  oppose  such  intentions?  And 
would  not  this  be  better  than  the  discontent 
that  ferments  and  expands  in  the  secrecy  of  the 
home,  in  the  huts  and  in  the  fields?  Certainly 
the  Spanish  people  does  not  spare  its  blood 
where  patriotism  is  concerned,  but  would  not  a 
struggle  of  principles  in  parliament  be  prefer- 
able to  the  exchange  of  shot  in  swampy  lands, 
three  thousand  leagues  from  home,  in  impene- 
trable forests,  under  a  burning  sun  or  amid 
torrential  rains?  These  pacific  struggles  of 
ideas,  besides  being  a  thermometer  for  the 
government,  have  the  advantage  of  being  cheap 
and  glorious,  because  the  Spanish  parliament 
especially  abounds  in  oratoricaL  paladins,  in- 
vincible in  debate.  Moreover,  it  is  said  that 
the  Filipinos  are  indolent  and  peaceful — then 
what  need  the  government  fear?  Hasn't  it 
any  influence  in  the  elections?  Frankly,  it  is 
a  great  compliment  to  the  separatists  to  fear 
them  in  the  midst  of  the  Cortes  of  the  nation. 


76    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

If  they  become  political  trimmers,  as  is  to  be 
expected  and  as  they  probably  will  be,  so  much 
the  better  for  the  government  and  so  much  the 
worse  for  their  constituents.  They  would  be  a 
few  more  favorable  votes,  and  the  government 
could  laugh  openly  at  the  separatists,  if  any 
there  be. 

If  they  become  what  they  should  be,  worthy, 
honest  and  faithful  to  their  trust,  they  will 
undoubtedly  annoy  an  ignorant  or  incapable 
minister  with  their  questions,  but  they  will  help 
him  to  govern  and  will  be  some  more  honorable 
figures  among  the  representatives  of  the  nation. 

iSow  then,  if  the  real  objection  to  the  Filipino 
delegates  is  that  they  smell  like  Igorots,  which 
so  disturbed  in  open  Senate  the  doughty  General 
Salamanca,  then  Don  Sinibaldo  de  Mas,  who 
saw  the  Jgorots  in  person  and  wanted  to  live 
with  them,  can  affirm  that  they  will  smell  at 
worst  like  powder,  and  Seiior  Salamanca 
undoubtedly  has  no  fear  of  that  odor.     And  if 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    77 

this  were  all,  the  Filipinos,  who  there  in  their 
own  country  are  accustomed  to  bathe  every 
day,  when  they  become  representatives  may 
give  up  such  a  dirty  custom,  at  least  during  the 
legislative  session,  so  as  not  to  offend  the 
delicate  nostrils  of  the  Salamancas  with  the  odor 
of  the  bath. 

It  is  useless  to  answer  certain  objections  of 
some  fine  writers  regarding  the  zather  brown 
skins  and  faces  with  somewhat  wide  nostrils. 
Questions  of  taste  are  peculiar  to  each  race. 
China,  for  example,  which  has  four  hundred 
million  inhabitants  and  a  very  ancient  civili- 
zation, considers  all  Europeans  ugly  and  calls 
them  "fan-kwai,"  or  red  devils.  Its  taste  has  a 
hundred  million  more  adherents  than  the  Eu- 
ropean. Moreover,  if  this  is  the  question,  we 
would  have  to  admit  the  inferiority  of  the  La- 
tins, especially  the  Spaniards,  to  the  Saxons, 
who  are  much  whiter. 

And  so  long  as  it  is  not  asserted  that  the 
Spanish  parliament  is  an  assemblage  of   Adon- 


78    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

ises.  Antinouses,  pretty  boys,  and  other  like 
paragons;  so  long  as  the  purpose  of  resorting 
thither  is  to  legislate  and  not  to  philosophize 
or  to  wander  through  imaginary  spheres,  we 
maintain  that  the  government  ought  not  to  pause 
at  these  objections.  Law  has  no  skin,  nor  rea- 
son nostrils. 

So  we  see  no  serious  reason  why  the  Philip- 
pines may  not  have  representatives.  By  their 
institution  many  malcontents  would  be  silenced, 
and  instead  of  blaming  its  troubles  upon  the 
government,  as  now  happens,  the  country  would 
bear  them  better,  for  it  could  at  least  complain 
and  with  its  sons  among  its  legislators  would 
in  a  way  become  responsible  for  their  actions. 

We  are  not  sure  that  we  serve  the  true  inte- 
rests of  our  country  by  asking  for  representa- 
tives. We  know  that  the  lack  of  enlightenment, 
the  indolence,  the  egotism  of  our  fellow  coun- 
trymen, and  the  boldness,  the  cunning  and  the 
powerful  methods  of  those    who  wish  their  ob- 


THE  PHILIPPINKS  A  CENTURY  HENCE    79 

scurantism,  may  convert  reform  into  a  harmful 
instrument.  But  we  wish  to  be  loyal  to  the 
government  and  we  are  pointing  out  to  it  the 
road  that  appears  best  to  us  so  that  its  efforts 
may  not  come  to  grief,  so  that  discontent  may 
disappear.  If  after  so  just,  as  well  as  necessary, 
a  measuz-e  has  been  introduced,  the  Filipino 
people  are  so  stupid  and  weak  that  they  are 
treacherous  to  their  own  interests,  then  let  the 
responsibility  fall  upon  them,  let  them  suffer 
all  the  consequences.  Every  country  gets  the 
fate  it  deserves,  and  the  government  can  say 
that  it  has  done  its  duty. 

These  are  the  two  fundamental  reforms,  which, 
properly  interpreted  and  applied,  will  dissipate 
all  clouds,  assure  affection  toward  Spain,  and 
make  all  succeeding  reforms  fruitful.  These 
are  the  reforms  sine  quihus  non. 

It  is  puerile  to  fear  that  independence  may 
come  through  them.  The  free  press  will  keep 
the  government  in  touch   with  public  opinion, 


80    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

and  the  representatives,  if  they  are,  as  they 
ought  to  be,  the  best  from  among  the  sons  of 
the  Philippines,  will  be  their  hostages.  With 
no  cause  for  discontent,  how  then  attempt  to 
stir  up  the  masses  of  the  people? 

Likewise  inadmissible  is  the  objection  offered 
by  some  regai'ding  the  imperfect  culture  oi  the 
majority  of  the  inhabitants.  Aside  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  not  so  imperfect  as  is  averred, 
there  is  no  plausible  reason  wh}'  the  ignorant 
and  the  defective  (whether  through  their  own 
or  another's  fault)  should  be  denied  representa- 
tion to  look  after  them  and  see  that  they  are 
not  abused.  They  are  the  very  ones  wlio  most 
need  it.  No  one  ceases  to  be  a  man,  no  one 
forfeits  his  rights  to  civilization  merely  by 
being  more  or  less  uncultured,  and  since  the 
Filipino  is  regarded  as  a  tit  citizen  when  he  is 
asked  to  pay  taxes  or  shed  his  blood  to  defend 
the  fatherland,  why  must  this  fitness  be  denied 
him  when  the  question  arises  of  granting  him 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    81 

some  right?  Moreover,  how  is  he  to  be  held 
responsible  for  his  ignorance,  when  it  is  acknow- 
ledged by  all,  friends  and  enemies,  that  his 
zeal  for  learning  is  so  great  that  even  before 
the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  every  one  could 
read  and  write,  and  that  we  now  see  the  hum- 
blest families  make  enormous  sacrifices  in  order 
that  their  children  may  become  a  little  enlight- 
ened, even  to  the  extent  of  working  as  servants 
in  order  to  learn  Spanish?  How  can  the 
country  be  expected  to  become  enlightened 
under  present  conditions  when  we  see  all  the 
decrees  issued  by  the  government  in  favor  of 
education  meet  with  Pedro  Rezios  who  prevent 
execution  thereof,  because  they  have  in  their 
hands  what  they  call  education  ?  If  the  Fili- 
pino, then,  is  sufficiently  intelligent  to  pay 
taxes,  he  must  also  be  able  to  choose  and  retain 
the  one  who  looks  after  him  and  his  interests, 
with  the  product  whereof  he  serves  the  govern- 
ment of  his  nation.  To  reason  otherwise  is  to 
reason  stupidly. 


82    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

When  the  laws  and  the  acts  of  oflficials  are 
kept  under  surveillance,  the  word  justice  may 
cease  to  be  a  colonial  jest.  The  thing  that 
makes  the  English  most  respected  in  their  pos- 
sessions is  their  strict  and  speedy  justice,  so 
that  the  inhabitants  repose  entire  confidence  in 
the  judges.  Justice  is  the  foremost  virtue  of 
the  civilizing  races.  It  subdues  the  barbarous 
nations,  while  injustice  arouses  the  weakest. 

Offices  and  trusts  should  be  awarded  by 
competition,  publishing  the  work  and  the  judg- 
ment thereon,  so  that  there  may  be  stimulus 
and  that  discontent  may  not  be  bred.  Then,  if 
the  native  does  not  shake  off  his  indolence  he 
can  not  complain  when  he  sees  all  the  offices 
filled  by  Castilas. 

We  presume  that  it  will  not  be  the  Spaniard 
who  fears  to  enter  into  this  contest,  for  thus 
will  he  be  able  to  prove  his  superiority  by  the 
superiority  of  intelligence.  Although  this  is 
not   the  custom  in   the  sovereign   country,  it 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    83 

should  be  practiced  in  the  colonies,  for  the 
reason  that  genuine  prestige  should  be  sought 
by  means  of  moral  qualities,  because  the  col- 
onizers ought  to  be,  or  at  least  to  seem,  upright, 
honest  and  intelligent,  just  as  a  man  simulates 
virtues  when  he  deals  with  strangers.  The  of- 
fices and  trusts  so  earned  will  do  away  with 
arbitrary  dismissal  and  develop  employees  and 
officials  capable  and  cognizant  of  their  duties. 
The  offices  held  by  natives,  instead  of  endanger- 
ing the  Spanish  domination,  will  merely  serve 
to  assure  it,  for  what  interest  would  they  have 
in  converting  the  sure  and  stable  into  the 
uncertain  and  problematical?  The  native  is, 
moreover,  very  fond  of  peace  and  prefers  an 
humble  present  to  a  brilliant  future.  Let  the 
various  Filipinos  still  holding  office  speak  in 
this  matter;  they  are  the  most  unshaken 
conservatives. 

We  could  add  other  minor  reforms  touching 
commerce,  agriculture,  security  of   the   indivi- 


84    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

dual  and  of  property,  education,  and  so  on,  but 
these  are  points  with  which  we  shall  deal  in 
other  articles.  For  the  present  we  are  satisfied 
with  the  outlines,  and  no  one  can  say  that  we 
ask  too  much. 

There  will  not  be  lacking  critics  to  accuse  us 
of  Utopianism:  but  what  is  Utopia?  Utopia 
was  a  country  imagined  b}^  Thomas  Moore, 
wherein  existed  universal  suffrage,  religious 
toleration,  almost  complete  abolition  of  the 
death  penalty,  and  so  on.  When  the  book  was 
published  these  things  were  looked  upon  as 
dreams,  impossibilities,  that  is,  Utopianism. 
Yet  civilization  has  left  the  country  of  Utopia 
far  behind,  the  human  will  and  conscience 
have  worked  greater  miracles,  have  abolished 
slavery  and  the  death  penalty  for  adultery — 
things    impossible    for  even    Utopia  itself! 

The  French  colonies  have  their  representa- 
tives. The  question  has  also  been  raised  in  the 
English    parliament    of   giving    representation 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    85 

to  the  Crown  colonies,  for  the  others  already 
enjoy  some  autonomy.  The  press  there  also  is 
free.  Only  Spain,  which  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury was  the  model  nation  in  civilization,  lags 
far  behind  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  whose  inha. 
bitants  do  not  number  a  third  of  those  of  the 
Philippines,  and  who  have  not  made  such  sac- 
rifices for  Spain,  have  numerous  representatives. 
The  Philippines  in  the  early  days  had  theirs, 
who  conferred  with  the  King  and  the  Pope  on 
the  needs  of  the  country.  They  had  them  in 
Spain's  critical  moments,  when  she  groaned 
under  the  Napoleonic  yoke,  and  they  did  not 
take  advantage  of  the  sovereign  country's  mis- 
fortune like  other  colonies,  but  tightened  more 
firmly  the  bonds  that  united  them  to  the  nation, 
giving  proofs  of  their  loyalty;  and  they  continu- 
ed until  many  years  later.  Wuatcrime  have 
the  Islands  committed  that  they  are  deprived 
of  their  rights? 

To  recapitulate:  the  Philippines  will    remain 
Sjianish,  if  they  enter  upon  the  life  of  law    atid 


86    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

civilization,  if  the  rights  of  their  inhabitants 
are  respected,  if  the  other  rights  due  them  are 
granted,  if  the  liberal  policy  of  the  government 
is  carried  out  without  trickery  or  meanness* 
without  subterfuges  or  false  interpretations. 

Otherwise,  if  an  attempt  is  made  to  see  in 
the  Islands  a  lode  to  be  exploited,  a  resource 
to  satisfy  ambitions,  thus  to  relieve  the  sove- 
reign country  of  taxes,  killing  thegoosethatlays 
the  golden  eggs  and  shutting  its  ears  to  all 
cries  of  reason,  then,  however  great  may  be  the 
loyalty  of  the  Filipinos,  it  will  be  impossible  to 
hinder  the  operations  of  the  inexorable  laws  of 
history.  Colonies  established  to  subserve  the 
policy  and  the  commerce  of  the  soverign  count- 
ry, all  eventually  become  independent,  said 
Bachelet,  and  before  Bachelet  all  the  Phoene- 
cian,  Carthaginian,  Greek,  Roman,  English, 
Portuguese  and  Spanish  colonies  had  said   it. 

Close  indeed  are  the  bonds  that  unite  us  to 
Spain.     Two  peoples  do  not  live  for  three   cen- 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    87 

turies  in  continual  contact,  sharing  the  same 
lot,  shedding  their  hiood  on  the  same  fields, 
holding  the  same  beliefs,  worshipping  the  same 
God,  interchanging  the  same  ideas,  but  that 
ties  are  formed  between  them  stronger  than 
those  fashioned  bv  arms  or  fear.  Mutual  sacri- 
fices and  benefits  have  engendered  affection. 
Machiavelli,  the  great  reader  of  the  human 
heart,  said:  la  nafnra  degli  huomini,  e  cosi 
ohligarsi  per  li  henejicii  che  e.ssi  fanno,  come,  per 
quelli  die  essi  ricevono  (it  is  human  nature  to  be 
bound  as  much  by  benefits  conferred  as  by  those 
received).  All  this,  and  more,  is  true,  but  it  is 
pure  sentimentality,  and  in  the  arena  of  poli- 
tics stern  necessity  and  interests  prevail.  How- 
soever much  the  Filipinos  owe  Spain,  they  can 
not  be  required  to  forego  their  redemption,  to  have 
their  liberal  and  enlightened  sons  wander  about 
in  exile  from  their  native  land,  the  rudest  aspira- 
tions stifled  in  its  atmosphere,  the  peacefulinhab- 
itant  living  in  constant  alarm,  with  the  fortune 


88    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

of  the  two  peoples  dependent  upon  the  whim 
of  one  man.  Spain  can  not  claim,  not  even  in 
the  name  of  God  himself,  that  six  millions  of 
people  should  be  brutalized,  exploited  and  op- 
pressed, denied  light  and  the  rights  inherent  to 
a  human  being,  and  then  heap  upon  them 
slights  and  insults.  There  is  no  claim  of 
gratitude  that  can  excuse,  there  is  not  enough 
powder  in  the  world  to  justify,  the  offenses 
against  the  liberty  of  the  individual,  against 
the  sanctity  of  the  home,  against  the  laws, 
against  peace  and  honor,  offenses  that  are  com- 
mitted there  daily.  There  is  no  divinity  that 
can  proclaim  the  sacrifice  of  our  dearest  affec- 
tions, the  sacrifice  of  the  family,  the  sacrileges 
and  wrongs  tliat  are  committed  by  persons  who 
have  the  name  of  God  on  their  lips.  No  one 
can  require  an  impossibility  of  the  Filipino 
people.  The  noble  Spanish  people,  so  "jealous 
of  its  rights  and  liberties,  can  not  bid  the  Fili- 
pinos renounce  theirs.  A  people  that  prides 
itself  on   the  glories   of  its   past   can   not  aak 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    89 

another,  trained  by  it,  to  accept  abiection  and 
dishonor  its  own  name! 

We  who  today  are  struggling  by  the  legal 
and  peaceful  means  of  debate  so  understand  it, 
and  with  our  gaze  fixed  upon  our  ideals,  shall 
not  cease  to  plead  our  cause,  without  going 
beyond  the  pale  of  the  law,  but  if  violence  first 
silences  us  or  we  have  the  misfortune  to  fall 
(which  is  possible,  for  we  are  mortal),  then  we 
do  not  know  what  course  will  be  taken  by  the 
numerous  tendencies  that  will  rush  in  to  occupy 
the  places  that  we  leave  vacant. 

If  what  we  desire  is  not  realized  .... 

In  contemplating  such  an  unfortunate  even- 
tuality, we  must  not  turn  away  in  horror,  and 
so  instead  of  closing  our  eyes  we  will  face  what 
the  future  may  bring.  For  this  purpose,  after 
throwing  the  handful  of  dust  due  to  Cerberus, 
let  us  frankly  descend  into  the  abyss  and  sound 
its  terrible  mysteries. 


IV 


IV. 

TTISTOJRY  does  not  record  in  its  annals  any 
lasting  domination  exercised  by  one  peo- 
ple over  another,  of  different  race,  of  diverse 
usages  and  customs,  of  opposite  and  divergent 
ideals. 

One  of  the  two  had  to  yield  and  succumb. 
Either  the  foreigner  was  driven  out,  as  happen- 
ed in  the  case  of  the  Carthaginians,  the  Moors 
and  the  French  in  Spain,  or  else  these  autoch- 
thons bad  to  give  way  and  perish,  as  was  the 
case  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  World, 
Australia  and  New  Zealand. 

One  of  the  longest  dominations  was  that  of 
the  Moors  in  Spain,  which  lasted  seven  cent- 
uries. But,  even  though  the  conquerors  lived  in 
the  country  conquered,  even  though  the  Penin- 


94    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

sula  was  broken  up  into  small  states,  which 
gradually  emerged  like  little  islands  in  the 
midst  of  the  great  Saracen  inundation,  and  in 
spite  of  the  chivalrous  spirit,  the  gallantry  and 
the  religious  toleration  of  the  califs,  they  were 
finally  driven  out  after  bloody  and  stubborn 
conflicts,  which  formed  the  Spanish  nation  and 
created  the  Spain  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries. 

The  existence  of  a  foreign  body  within  an- 
other endowed  with  strength  and  activity  is  con- 
trary to  all  natural  and  ethical  laws.  Science 
teaches  us  that  it  is  either  assimilated,  destroys 
the  organism,  is  eliminated  or  becomes  encysted. 

Encystment  of  a  conquering  people  is  impos- 
sible, for  it  signifies  complete  isolation,  abso- 
lute inertia,  debility  in  the  conquering  element. 
Encystment  thus  means  the  tomb  of  the  foreign 
invader. 

Now,  applying  these  considerations  to  the 
Philippines,  we   must  conclude,  as  a  deduction 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    95 

from  all  we  have  said,  that  if  their  population 
be  not  assimilated  to  the  Spanish  nation,  if  the 
dominators  do  not  enter  into  the  spirit  of  their 
inhabitants,  if  equable  laws  and  free  and  liber- 
al reforms  do  not  make  each  forget  that  they 
belong  to  different  races,  or  if  both  peoples  be 
not  amalgamated  to  constitute  one  mass,  social- 
ly and  politically  homogeneous,  that  is,  not 
harassed  by  opposing  tendencies  and  antagonis- 
tic ideas  and  interests,  some  day  the  Philippines 
will  fatally  and  infallibly  declare  themselves 
independent.  To  this  law  of  destiny  can  be 
opposed  neither  Spanish  patriotism,  nor  the 
love  of  all  the  Filipinos  for  Spain,  nor  the 
doubtful  future  of  dismemberment  and  intestine 
strife  in  the  Islands  themselves.  Necessity  is 
the  most  powerful  divinity  the  world  knows, 
and  necessity  is  the  resultant  of  physical  forces 
set  in  operation  by  ethical  forces. 

We  have  said  and  statistics  prove  that  it  is 
impossible  to  exterminate  the   Filipino  people. 


%    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

And  even  were  it  possible,  what  interest  would 
Spain  have  in  the  destruction  of  the  inhabitants 
of  a  country  she  can  not  populate  or  cultivate, 
whose  climate  is  to  a  certain  extent  disastrous 
to  her?  What  good  would  the  Philippines  be 
without  the  Filipinos?  Quite  otherwise,  under 
her  colonial  system  and  the  transitory  character 
of  the  Spaniards  who  go  to  the  colonies,  a  col- 
ony is  so  mucli  the  more  useful  and  productive 
to  her  as  it  possesses  inhabitants  and  wealth. 
Moreover,  in  order  to  destroy  the  six  million 
Malays,  even  supposing  them  to  be  in  their 
infancy  and  that  they  have  never  learned  to 
fight  and  defend  themselves,  Spain  would  have 
to  sacrifice  at  least  a  fourth  of  her  popuhition. 
This  we  commend  to  the  notice  of  the  partizans 
of  colonial  exploitation. 

But  nothing  of  this  kind  can  happen.  The 
menace  is  that  when  the  education  and  liberty 
necessary  to  human  existence  are  denied  by 
Spain  to   the    Filipinos,    then    they    will   seek 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    97 

enlightenment  abroad,  behind  the  mother  coun. 
try's  back,  or  they  will  secure  by  hook  or  by 
crook  some  advantages  in  their  own  country, 
with  the  result  that  the  opposition  of  purblind 
and  paretic  politicians  will  not  only  be  futile 
bnt  even  prejudicial,  because  it  will  convert 
motives  for  love  and  gratitude  into  resentment 
and  hatred. 

Hatred  and  resentment  on  one  side,  mistrust 
and  anger  on  the  other,  will  finally  result  in  a 
violent  and  terrible  collision,  especially  when 
there  exist  elements  interested  in  having  dis- 
turbances, so  that  they  may  get  something  in 
the  excitement,  demonstrate  their  mighty  power, 
foster  lamentations  and  recriminations,  or  em- 
ploy violent  measures.  It  is  to  be  expected 
that  the  government  will  triumph  and  be  gener- 
ally (as  is  the  custom)  severe  in  punishment, 
either  to  teach  a  stern  lesson  in  order  to  vaunt 
its  strength  or  even  to  revenge  upon  the  van- 
quished the  spells  of  excitement  and  terror  that 


98    THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

the  danger  caused  it.  An  unavoidable  conco- 
mitant of  those  catastrophes  is  the  accumula- 
tion of  acts  of  injustice  committed  against  the 
innocent  i-ind  peaceful  inhabitants.  Private 
reprisals,  denunciations,  despicable  accusations, 
resentments,  covetousness,  the  opportune  mo- 
ment for  calumny,  the  haste  and  hurried  pro- 
cedure of  the  courts  martial,  the  pretext  of  the 
integrity  of  the  fatherland  and  the  safety  of 
the  state,  which  cloaks  and  justifies  everything, 
even  for  scrupulous  minds,  which  unfortunately 
are  still  rare,  and  above  ail  the  panic-stricken 
timidity,  the  cowardice  that  battens  upon  the 
conquered — all  these  things  augment  the  severe 
measures  and  the  number  of  the  victims.  The 
result  is  that  a  chasm  of  blood  is  then  opened 
between  the  two  peoples,  that  the  wounded  and 
the  afflicted,  instead  of  becoming  fewer,  are 
increased,  for  to  the  families  and  friends  of  the 
guilty,  who  always  think  the  punishment  exces. 
sive  and  the  judge  unjust,  must  be  added    the 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE    99 

families  and  friends  of  the  innocent,  who  see 
no  advantajje  in  livinsf  and  working  submis 
sively  and  peacefully.  Note,  too,  that  if  severe 
measures  are  dangerous  in  a  nation  made  up 
of  a  homogeneous  population,  the  peril  is  in- 
creased a  hundred-fold  when  the  government  is 
formed  of  a  race  different  from  the  governed. 
In  the  former  an  injustice  may  still  be  ascribed 
to  one  man  alone,  to  a  governor  actuated  by 
personal  malice,  and  with  the  death  of  the  tyrant 
the  victim  is  reconciled  to  the  government  of 
his  nation.  But  in  a  country  dominated  by  a 
foreign  race,  even  the  justest  act  of  severity  is 
construed  as  injustice  and  oppression,  because 
it  is  ordered  by  a  foreigner,  who  is  unsympa- 
thetic or  is  an  enemy  of  the  country,  and  the 
offense  hurts  not  only  the  victim  but  his  entire 
race,  because  it  is  not  usually  regarded  as  per- 
sonal, and  so  the  resentment  naturally  spreads 
to  the  whole  governing  race  and  does  not  die 
out  with  the  offender. 


100  THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

Hence  the  great  prudence  and  fine  tact  that 
should  be  exercised  by  colonizing  countries,  and 
the  fact  that  government  regards  the  colonies 
in  general,  and  our  colonial  office  in  particular, 
as  training  schools,  contributes  notably  to  the 
fulfillment  of  the  great  law  that  the  colonies 
sooner  or  later  declare  themselves  independent. 

Such  is  the  descent  down  which  the  peoples 
are  precipitated.  In  proportion  as  they  are 
bathed  in  blood  and  drenched  in  tears  and  gall, 
the  colony,  if  it  has  any  vitality,  learns  how  to 
struggle  and  perfect  itself  in  fighting,  while  the 
mother  country,  whose  colonial  life  depends 
upon  peace  and  the  submission  of  the  subjects, 
is  constantly  weakened,  and,  even  though  she 
make  heroic  efforts,  as  her  number  is  less  and 
she  has  only  a  fictitious  existence,  she  finally 
perishes.  She  is  like  the  rich  voluptuary  ac- 
customed to  be  waited  upon  by  a  crowd  of 
servafits  toiling  and  planting  for  him,  and  who, 
on  the  day  liis  slaves  refuse  bim  obedience,  as 
he  does  not  live  by  his  own  efforts,  must  die. 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE  101 

i?,eprisals,  wrongs  and  suspicions  on  one  part 
and  on  the  other  the  sentiment  of  patriotism 
and  liberty,  which  is  aroused  in  these  inces- 
sant conflicts,  insurrections  and  uprisings, 
operate  to  generalize  the  movement  and  one  of 
the  two  peoples  must  succumb.  The  struggle 
will  be  brief,  for  it  will  amount  to  a  slavery 
much  more  cruel  than  death  for  the  people  and 
to  a  dishonorable  loss  of  prestige  for  the 
dominator.     One  of  the  peoples  must  succumb. 

Spain,  from  the  number  of  her  itihabitants, 
from  the  condition  of  her  army  and  navy,  from 
the  distance  she  is  situated  from  the  Islands, 
from  her  scanty  knowledge  of  them,  and  from 
struggling  against  a  people  whose  love  and 
good  will  she  has  alienated,  will  necessarily 
have  to  give  way,  if  she  does  not  wish  to  risk 
not  only  her  other  possessions  and  her  future 
in  Africa,  but  also  her  very  independence  in 
Europe.  All  this  at  the  cost  of  bloodshed  and 
crime,  after  mortal  conflicts,  murders,  conflagra- 


102  THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

tions,  military  executions,  famine  and  misery. 
The  Spaniard  is  gallant  and  patriotic,  and 
sacrifices  everything,  in  favorable  moments,  for 
his  country's  good.  He  has  the  intrepidity  of 
his  bull.  The  Filipino  loves  his  country  no  less, 
and  although  he  is  quieter,  more  peaceful,  and 
with  difficulty  stirred  up,  when  he  is  once 
aroused  he  does  not  hesitate  and  for  him  the 
struggle  means  death  to  one  or  the  other  com- 
batant. He  has  all  the  meekness  and  all  the 
tenacity  and  ferocity  of  liis  carabao.  Climate 
affects  bipeds  in  the  same  way  that  it  does 
quadrupeds. 

The  terrible  lessons  and  the  hard  teachings 
that  these  conflicts  will  have  afforded  the  Fili- 
pinos will  operate  to  improve  and  strengthen 
their  ethical  nature.  The  Spain  of  the  fifteenth 
century  was  not  the  Spain  of  the  eighth.  With 
their  bitter  experience,  instead  of  intestine  con- 
flicts of  some  islands  against  others,  as  is 
generally  feared,  they  will  extend  mutual  sup- 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE  103 

port,  like  shipwrecked  persons  when  they  reach 
0,n  island  after  a  fearful  night  of  storm.  Nor 
may  it  be  said  that  we  shall  partake  of  the  fate 
of  the  small  American  republics.  They  achiev- 
ed their  independence  easily,  and  their  inhabi- 
tants are  animated  by  a  different  spirit  from 
what  the  Filipinos  are.  Besides,  the  danger  of 
falling  again  into  other  hands,  English  or 
German,  for  example,  will  force  the  Filipinos 
to  be  sensible  and  prudent.  Absence  of  any 
great  preponderance  of  one  race  over  the  others 
will  free  their  imagination  from  all  mad  ambi- 
tions of  domination,  and  as  the  tendency  of 
countries  that  have  been  tyrannized  over,  when 
they  once  shake  off  the  yoke,  is  to  adopt  the 
freest  government,  like  a  boy  leaving  school, 
iike  the  beat  of  the  pendulum,  by  a  law  of  reac- 
tion the  Islands  will  probably  declare  them- 
selves a  federal  republic. 

If  the  Philippines  secure  their  independence 
after  heroic  and    stubborn  conflicts,   they  can 


104  THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

rest  assured  that  neither  England,  nor  Germany, 
nor  France,  and  still  less  Holland,  will  dare  to 
take  up  what  Spain  has   been  unable  to  hold. 
Within    a   few    years    Africa    will   completely 
absorb   the    attention    of   the  Europeans,  and 
there  is  no  sensible  nation  which,    in    order  to 
secure  a  group  of  poor  and  hostile  islands,  will 
neglect  the  immense  territory   offered  by  the 
Dark  Continent,    untouched,  undeveloped   and 
almost  undefended.     England  has  enough  col- 
onies in  the  Orient  and  is  not  going  to  risk 
losing  her  balance.     She  is  not  going  to  sacri- 
fice her  Indian  Empire  for  the  poor  Philippine 
Islands — if  slie  had  entertained  such  an  inten- 
tion  she  would   not   have   restored    Manila  in 
1763,  but  would  have  kept   some  point  in  the 
Philippines,  whence  she  might  gradually  expand. 
Moreover,  what  need  has  John  Bull  the  trader 
to  exliaust  himself  for  the  Philippines,  when  he 
is  already  lord  of  the  Orient,  when  he  has  there 
Singapore,    Hongkong   and    Shanghai?     It    is 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE  105 

probable  that  England  will  look  favorably  upon 
the  independence  of  the  Philippines,  for  it  will 
open  their  ports  to  her  and  afford  greater  free- 
dom to  her  commerce.  Furthermore,  there 
exist  in  the  United  Kingdom  tendencies  and 
opinions  to  the  effect  that  she  already  has  too 
many  colonies,  that  they  are  harmful,  that  they 
greatly  weaken  the  sovereign  country. 

For  the  same  reasons  Germany  will  not  care 
to  run  any  risk,  and  because  a  scattering  of  her 
forces  and  a  war  in  distant  countries  will 
endanger  her  existence  on  the  continent.  Thus 
we  see  her  attitude,  as  much  in  the  Pacific  as 
in  Africa,  is  confined  to  conquering  easy  ter- 
ritory that  belongs  to  nobody.  Germany  avoids 
any  foreign  complications. 

France  has  enough  to  do  and  sees  more  of  a 
future  in  Tongking  and  China,  besides  the  fact 
that  the  French  spirit  does  not  shine  in  zeal  for 
colonization.  France  loves  glory,  but  the  glory 
and  laurels   that   grow  on    the    battlefields    of 


106  THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

Europe.  The  echo  from  battlefields  in  the  Far 
East  hardly  satisfiies  her  craving  for  renown, 
for  it  reaches  her  quite  faintly.  She  has  also 
other  obligations,  both  internally  and  on  the 
continent. 

Holland  is  sensible  and  will  be  content  to 
keep  the  Moluccas  and  Java.  Sumatra  offers 
her  a  greater  future  than  the  Philippines,  whose 
seas  and  coasts  have  a  sinister  omen  for  Dutch 
expeditions.  Holland  proceeds  with  great  cau- 
tion in  Sumatra  and  Borneo,  from  fear  of  losing 
everything. 

China  will  consider  herself  fortunate  if  she 
succeeds  in  keeping  herself  intact  and  is  not 
dismembered  or  partitioned  among  the  Euro- 
pean powers  that  are  colonizing  the  continent 
of  Asia. 

The  same  is  true  of  Japan.  On  the  north 
she  has  Russia,  who  envies  and  watches  her;  on 
the  south  England,  with  whom  she  is  in  accord 
even  to  her  official  language,     Sbe  is,  moreover, 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE  107 

under  such  diplomatic  pressure  from  Europe 
that  she  can  not  think  of  outside  affairs  until 
she  is  freed  from  it,  which  will  not  be  an  easy 
matter.  True  it  is  that  she  has  an  excess 
of  population,  but  Korea  .attracts  her  more 
than  the  Philippines  and  is,  also,  easier  to  seize. 

Perhaps  the  great  American  Republic,  whose 
interests  lie  in  the  Pacific  and  who  has  no  hand 
in  the  spoliation  of  Africa,  may  some  day  dream 
of  foreign  possession.  This  is  not  impossible, 
for  the  example  is  contagious,  covetousness  and 
ambition  are  among  the  strongest  vices,  and 
Harrison  manifested  something  of  this  sort  in 
the  Samoan  question.  But  the  Panama  Canal 
is  not  opened  nor  the  territory  of  the  States 
congested  with  inhabitants,  and  in  case  she 
should  openly  attempt  it  the  European  powers 
would  not  allow  her  to  proceed,  for  they  know 
very  well  that  the  appetite  is  sharpened  by  the 
first  bites.  North  America  would  be  quite  a 
troublesome  rival,  if  she  should   once    get   into 


108  THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

the  business.     Furthermore,  this  is  contrary  to 
her  traditions. 

Very  likely  the  Philippines  will  defend    with 
inexpressible  valor  the  liberty    secured  at    the 
price  of  so    much    blood    and    sacrifice.     With 
the  new  men  that  will    spring  from    their    soil 
and  with  the   recollection    of   their   past,   they 
will  perhaps  strive  to  enter  freely  upon  the  wide 
road  of  progress,  and  all  will  labor   together  to 
strengthen  their  fatherland,  both  internally  and 
externally,    with  the    same     enthusiasm     with 
which  a  youth  falls  again  to  tilling  the  land  of 
his  ancestors,  so  long    wasted    and    abandoned 
through  the  neglect  of  those  who  have  withheld 
it  from  him.     Then  the  mines  will  be    made  to 
give  up  their  gold    for  relieving    distress,    iron 
for  weapons,  copper,    lead  and    coal.     Perhaps 
the  country  will  revive  the  maritime   and    mer- 
cantile life  for  which  the  islanders  are  fitted  by 
their  nature,   ability    and    instincts,    and    once 
more  free,  like  the  bird   that    leaves   its   cage, 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE  109 

like  the  Hower  that  unfolds  to  the  air,  will  re- 
cover the  pristine  virtues  that  are  gradually 
dying  out  and  will  again  become  addicted  to 
peace — cheerful,  happv,  joyous,  hospitable  and 
daring. 

These  and  many  other  things  may  come  to 
pass  within  something  like  a  hundred  years. 
But  the  most  logical  prognostication,  the  pro- 
phecy based  on  the  best  probabilities,  may  err 
through  remote  and  insignificant  causes.  An 
octopus  that  seized  Mark  Antony's  ship  altered 
the  face  of  the  world;  a  cross  on  Cavalry  and  a 
just  man  nailed  thereon  changed  the  ethics  of 
half  the  human  race,  and  yet  before  Christ,  how 
many  just  men  wrongfully  perished  and  how 
many  crosses  were  raised  on  that  hill!  The 
death  of  the  just  sanctified  his  work  and  made 
his  teaching  unanswerable.  A  sunken  road  at 
the  battle  of  Waterloo  buried  all  the  glories  of 
two  brilliant  decades,  the  whole  Napoleonic 
world,  and  freed  Europe.     Upon  what  chance 


110  THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

accidents  will  the  destiny  of    the   Philippines 
depend? 

Nevertheless,  it  is  not  well  to  trust  to  ac- 
cident, for  there  is  sometimes  an  imperceptible 
and  incomprehensible  logic  in  the  workings  of 
history.  Fortunately,  peoples  as  well  as  govern- 
ments are  subject  to  it. 

Therefore,  we  repeat,  and  we  will  ever  repeat, 
while  there  is  time,  that  it  is  better  to  keep 
pace  with  the  desires  of  a  people  than  to  give 
way  before  them:  the  former  begets  sympathy 
and  love,  the  latter  contempt  and  anger.  Since 
it  is  necessary  to  grant  six  million  Filipinos 
their  rights,  so  that  they  may  be  in  fact 
Spaniards,  let  the  government  grant  these  rights 
freely  and  spontaneously,  without  damaging 
reservations,  without  irritating  mistrust.  We 
shall  never  tire  of  repeating  this  while  a  ray  of 
hope  is  left  us,  for  we  prefer  this  unpleasant 
task  to  the  need  of  some  day  saying  to  the 
mother  country:     "Spain,   we  have  spent  our 


THE  PHILIPPINES  A  CENTURY  HEECE  111 

youth  in  serving  thy  interests  in  the  interests 
of  our  country;  we  have  looked  to  thee,  we  have 
expended  the  whole  light  of  our  intellects,  all 
the  fervor  and  enthusiasm  of  our  hearts  in  work" 
ing  for  the  good  of  what  was  thine,  to  draw 
from  thee  a  glance  of  love,  a  liberal  policy  that 
would  assure  us  the  peace  of  our  native  land 
and  thy  sway  over  loyal  but  unfortunate 
islands!  Spain,  thou  hast  remained  deaf,  and, 
wrapped  up  in  thy  pride,  hast  pursued  thy 
fatal  course  and  accused  us  of  being  traitors, 
merely  because  we  love  our  country,  because 
we  tell  thee  the  truth  and  hate  all  kinds  of  in- 
justice. What  dost  thou  wish  us  to  tell  our 
wretched  country,  when  it  asks  about  the  result 
of  our  efforts?  Must  we  say  to  it  that,  since 
for  it  we  have  lost  everything — youth,  future, 
hope,  peace,  family;  since  in  its  service  we  have 
exhausted  all  the  resources  of  hope,  all  the  dis- 
illusions of  desire,  it  also  take  the  residue  which 
we  can  not  use,  the  blood  from  our  veins  and 


112  THE  PH1LIPPIN?:S  A  CENTURY  HENCE 

the  strength  left  in  our  arms?  Spain,  must  we 
some  day  tell  Filipinas  that  thou  hast  no  ear 
for  her  woes  and  that  if  she  wishes  to  be  saved 
ehe  must  redeem  herself?" 


RiZAL's  Farewell  Address 


Address  to  Some  Filipinos 

"Countrymen:  On  my  return  from  Spain  i 
learned  that  my  name  had  been  in  use,  among 
some  who  were  in  arms,  as  a  war-cry.  The 
news  came  as  a  painful  surprise,  but,  believing 
it  already  closed,  I  kept  silent  over  an  incident 
which  I  considered  irremediable.  Now  1  notice 
indications  of  the  disturbances  continuing,  and 
if  any  still,  in  good  or  bad  faith,  are  availing 
themselves  of  my  name,  to  stop  this  abuse  and 
undeceive  the  unwary  [  hasten  to  address  you 
these  lines  that  the  truth  may  be  known. 

"From  the  very  beginning,  when  I  first  had 
notice  of  what  was  being  planned,  I  opposed  it, 
and  demonstrated  its  absolute  impossibility. 
This  is  the  fact,  and  witnesses  to  my  words  are 
now  living.     I  was  convinced  that  the    scheme 


116  RIZAL'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS 

was  utterly  absurd,  and,  what  was  worse,  would 
bring  great  suffering. 

"1  did  even  more.  When  later,  against  my 
advice,  the  movement  materialized,  of  mv  own 
accord  I  offered  not  alone  my  good  offices,  but 
my  very  life,  and  even  my  name,  to  be  used  in 
whatever  way  might  seem  best,  toward  stifling 
the  rebellion;  for,  convinced  of  the  ills  which  it 
would  bring,  1  considered  myself  fortunate,  if, 
at  any  sacrifice,  I  could  prevent  such  useless 
misfortunes.  This  equally  is  of  record.  My 
countrymen,  I  have  given  proofs  that  I  am  one 
most  anxious  for  liberties  for  our  country,  and 
I  am  still  desirous  of  them.  Jlnt  I jAace  as  a 
2)rior  condition  the  education  of  the  peopJe,  that 
by  means  of  instruction  and  industry  our  country 
may  have  an  individuality  of  its  own  and  make 
itself  worthy  of  these  liberties.  1  have  recom- 
mended in  my  writings  the  study  of  civic  vir- 
tues, without  which  there  is  no  redemption. 
I  have  written  likewise   (and  repeat  my   words) 


RIZAL'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS  117 

that  reforms,  to  be  beneficial,  must  come  from 
above,  that  those  which  come  from  below  are 
irregularly  gained  and  uncertain. 

"Holding  these  ideas,  I  cannot  do  less  than 
condemn,  and  I  do  condemn,  this  uprising, — as 
absurd,  savage,  and  plotted  behind  my  back, — 
which  dishonors  us  Filipinos  and  discredits 
those  who  could  plead  our  cause.  I  abhor  its 
criminal  methods  and  disclaim  all  part  in  it, 
pitying  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  the  unwary 
who  have  been  deceived. 

"Return,  then,  to  your  homes,  and  may  God 
pardon  those  who  have  worked  in  bad  faith. 

Jose  Rizal. 

"Fort  Santiago,  December  15th,  1896. 

The  Spanish  j udge-advocategeneral  com- 
mented upon  the  address: 

"The  preceding  address  to  his  countrymen 
which  Dr.  Rizal  proposes  to  direct  to  them,  is 
not  in  substance  the  patriotic  protest  against 


118  RIZAL'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS 

separatist  manifestations  and  tendencies  which 
ought  to  come  from  those  who  claim  to  be  loyal 
sons  of  Spain.  According  to  his  declarations, 
Don  Jose  Rizal  limits  himself  to  condemning 
the  present  insurrectionary  movement  as 
premature  and  because  he  considers  now  its 
triumph  impossible,  but  leaves  it  to  be  inferred 
that  the  wished-for  independence  can  be  gained 
by  procedures  less  dishonorable  than  those  now 
being  followed  by  the  rebels,  when  the  culture 
of  the  people  shall  be  a  most  valuable  asset  for 
the  combat  and  guarantee  its   successful    issue. 

"For  Rizal  the  fjuestion  is  of  opportuneness, 
not  of  principles  nor  of  aims.  His  manifest » 
might  be  summarized  in  these  words:  'Because 
of  my  proofs  of  the  rebellion's  certainty  to  fail, 
lay  down  your  arms,  my  countryuieu.  fiUter 
I  shall  lead  you  to  the  Promised  Litnd.' 

■'So  far  from  being  conducive  to  peace,  it 
could  advance^  in  the  future  the  spirit  of 
rebellion.     For  this  reason   the  publicati'.>n  of 


RIZAL'S  FAREWELL  ADDRESS  119 

the  proposed  address  seems  impolitic,  and  1 
would  recommend  to  Your  Excellency  to  forbid 
its  being  made  public,  but  to  order  that  all 
these  papers  be  forwarded  to  the  Judge  Advocate 
therein  and  added  to  the  case  against  Eizal." 
"Manila,  December  19th,  1896. 


RizAL's  Defence 


These  '^Additions''  were  really  Doctor  llhaVs 
defence  before  the  court  martial  which  condemned 
him  and  pretended  to  have  tried  him,  on  the 
charge  of  having  organized  revolutionary  so- 
cieties and  so  being  responsible  for  the  rebellion. 

The  only  counsel  permitted  him,  a  young  lieu- 
tenant selected  from  the  junior  Spanish  army 
officers,  risJced  the  displeasure  of  his  superiors  in 
the  few  ivords  he  did  say,  but  his  argument  ivas 
pitiably  iveah.  The  court  scene,  where  liizal  sat 
Jor  hours  with  his  elhows  corded  bach  of  him  while 
the  crowd,  unrebuked  by  the  court,  clamored  for 
his  deatii,  recalls  file  stories  (f  the  bloody  assizes 
of  Judge  Jeffreys  and  of  the  bloodthirsty  tribunals 
(f  the  lieiyn  of  Terror.  He  was  cotnpelled  to 
testify  himself  was  not  permitted  to  hear  tlic  tes- 
timony given  for  tJie  prosecutio)),  no  witness  dared 
favor  him,  much  less  appeav  in  his  behalf,  and 
his  own  brotiier  had  been  tortured,  with  the  thuml- 
screu)s  as  well  as  in  other  ynediaeval  and  modern 
ways,  in  a  vain  endeavor  to  extort  a  confession 
implicating  the  Doctor. 


Additions  to  my  Defence 

Don  Jose  Rizal  y  Alonso  respectfully  requests 
the  Court  Martial  to  consider  well  the  following 
circumstances: 

First. — Re  the  rebellion.  From  July  6th, 
1892,  1  had  absolutely  no  connection  with  poli- 
tics until  July  1st  of  this  year  when,  advised  by 
Don  Pio  Valenzuela  that  an  uprising  was  pro- 
posed, I  counselled  against  it,  trying  to  con- 
vince him  with  arguments.  Don  Pio  Valenzue- 
la left  me  convinced  apparently;  so  much  so 
that  instead  of  later  taking  part  in  rebellion, 
he  presented  himself  to  the  authorities  for 
pardon. 

Secondly: — A  proof  that  1  maintained  no  po_ 
litical  relation  with  any  one,  and  of  the  falsity 
of  the  statement  that  I  was  in  the  habit  of  send- 
ing  letters  by    my  family,    is   the  fact  that   it 


126  RIZAL'S  DEFENCE 

■was  necessary  to  send  Don  Pio  Valenzuela  un- 
der an  assumed  name,  at  considerable  cost, 
when  in  the  same  steamer  were  travelling  five 
members  of  ni}'  family  besides  two  servants.  If 
what  has  been  charged  were  true,  what  occa- 
sion was  there  for  Don  Pio  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  any  one  and  incur  large  expenses?  Be- 
sides, the  mere  fact  of  Sr.  Valenzuela's  coming 
to  inform  me  of  the  rebellion  proves  that  I  was 
not  in  correspondence  with  its  promoters  for  if 
1  had  been  then  I  should  have  known  of  it,  for 
making  an  uprising  is  a  sufficiently  serious  mat- 
ter not  to  liide  it  from  me.  When  they  took 
the  step  of  sending  yr.  iValen/.nehi,  it  proves 
that  they  were  aware  that  I  knew  nothing,  that 
is  to  say,  that  1  was  not  maintaining  correspon- 
dence with  them.  Another  negative  proof  is 
that  not  a  single  letter  of  mine  can  be  shown. 

Thirdly — They  cruelly  abused  my  name  and 
at  the  last  hour  wanted  to  surprise  me.  Why 
did  they   not    communicate    with    me    before? 


KIZAL'S  DEFENCE  127 

They  might  say  like>vise  that  I  was,  if  not  Cdii- 
tent,  at  least  resigned  to  my  fate,  for  1  had  re- 
fused various  propositions  which  a  number  of 
people  made  me  to  rescue  me  from  that  place 
Only  in  these  last  months,  in  consequence  of 
certain  domestic  affairs,  having  had  differences 
with  a  missionary  padre,  I  had  sought  to  go  as 
a  volunteer  to  Cuba.  Don  Pio  Yalenzuelacame 
to  warn  me  that  1  miglit  put  myself  in  security 
because,  according  to  him,  it  was  possible  that 
they  might  compromise  me.  As  I  considered 
myself  wholly  innocent  and  was  not  posted  on 
the  details  of  the  movement  (besides  that  I  had 
convinced  Sr.  Valenzuela)  I  took  no  precautions, 
but  when  His  Excellency,  the  Governor  General, 
wrote  me  announcing  my  departure  for  ("!uba,  1 
embarked  at  once,  leaving  all  my  affairs  unat- 
tended to.  And  yet  I  could  have  gone  to 
another  part  or  simply  have  staid  in  Dapitan 
for  His  Excellency's  letter  was  conditional.  It 
said — "If  you  persist  in  your  idea  of  going  to 


128  RIZAL'S  DEFENCE 

Cuba,  etc."  When  the  uprising  occurred  it 
found  me  on  board  the  warship  "Castilla",  and 
I  offered  myself  unconditionally  to  His  Excel- 
lency. Twelve  or  fourten  days  later  I  set  out 
for  Europe,  and  had  I  had  an  uneasy  conscience 
I  should  have  tried  to  escape  in  some  port  en 
route,  especially  Singapore,  where  1  went  ashore 
and  when  other  passengers  who  had  passports 
for  Spain  staid  over.  I  had  an  easy  conscience 
and  hoped  to  go  to  Cuba, 

Fourthly. — In  Dapitan  1  had  boats  and  1  was 
permitted  to  make  excursions  along  the  coast 
and  to  the  settlements,  absences  which  lasted 
as  long  as  I  wished,  at  times  a  week.  If  L  had 
still  had  intentions  of  political  activity,  1  might 
have  gotten  away  even  in  the  vintas  of  the 
Moros  whom  I  knew  in  the  settlements.  Neither 
would  I  have  built  my  small  hospital  nor  bought 
land  nor  invited  my  family  to  live  with  me. 

Fifthly. — Some  one  has  said  that  I  was  the 
chief.     What  kind  of  a  chief  is  he  who  is  ijrnor- 


RIZAL'S  DEFENCE  129 

ed  in  the  plotting  and  who  is  notified  only  that 
he  may  escape?  How  is  he  chief  who  when  he 
says  no,   they  say  yes? 

— As  to  the  ''Liga": 

Sixthly.- — It  is  true  that  1  drafted  its  By-Laws 
whose  aims  were  to  promote  commerce,  indus- 
try, the  arts,  etc,  by  means  of  united  action,  as 
have  testified  witnesses  not  at  all  prejudiced 
in  my  favor,  rather  the  reverse. 

Seventhly  — The  "Liga"  never  came  into  real 
existence  nor  ever  got  to  Avorking,  since  after 
the  first  meeting  no  one  paid  any  attention  to 
it,  because  1  was  exiled  a  few  days  later. 

Eighthly. — If  it  was  reorganized  nine  months 
afterwards  by  other  persons,  as  now  is  said,  I 
was  ignorant  of  the  fact. 

Ninthly  ■ — The  "Liga"  was  not  a  society  with 
harmful  tendencies  and  the  proof  is  the  fact 
that  the  radicals  had  to  leave  it,  organizing  the 
Katipnnan  which  was  what  answered  their  pur- 
poses.    Had  the  "Liga"  lacked  only  a  little  of 


V.iO  RTZAL'S  DEFENCE 

being  adapted  for  rebellion,  the  radicals  would 
not  liave  left  it  but  simply  would  have  modified 
it;  besides,  if,  as  some  allege,  I  am  the  chief, 
out  of  consideration  for  me  and  for  the  pre- 
stige of  my  name,  they  would  have  retained 
the  name  of  "Liga".  Their  having  abandoned 
it,  name  and  all,  proves  clearly  that  they  nei- 
ther counted  on  me  nor  did  the  "Liga"  serve 
their  purposes,  otherwise  they  would  not  have 
madeaiiotlier  society  when  they  had  one  already 
organized. 

Tenthly. — As  to  my  letters,  1  beg  of  the  court 
that,  if  there  are  any  bitter  criticisms  in  them, 
it  will  consider  the  circumstances  under  which 
they  were  Avritten.  Then  we  had  been  deprived 
of  our  two  dwellings,  warehouses,  lands,  and 
besides  all  my  brothers-in-law  and  my  brother 
were  depoited,  in  consequence  (»f  a  suit  arising 
from  an  inquiry  of  the  Administracion  de  Ha- 
cienda (tax-collecting  branch  of  the  government), 
a  case  i!i  wliich,  according  to  oui'  attorney    (in 


RIZAL'S  DEFENCE  131 

Madrid),  Sr.  Linares   Rivas,  we    bad  the   right 
on  our  side. 

Meventbly. — -That  I  have  endured  exile  with- 
out complaint,  not  because  of  the  charge  alleg- 
ed, for  that  was  not  true,  but  for  what  1  had 
been  able  to  write.  And  ask  the  politico  mili. 
tary  commanders  of  the  district  where  L  resided 
of  my  conduct  during  these  four  years  of  exile^ 
of  the  town,  even  of  the  very  missionary  parish 
priests  despite  my  personal  differences  with  one 
of  them. 

Twelfthly. — All  these  facts  and  considera. 
tions  destroy  the  little-founded  accusation  of 
those  who  have  testified  against  me,  with  whom 
I  have  asked  the  Judge  to  be  confronted.  Is  it 
possible  that  in  a  single  night  I  was  able  to  line 
up  all  the  filibusterism,  at  a  gathering  which 
discussed  commerce,  etc.,  a  gathering  which 
went  no  further  for  it  died  immediately  after- 
wards? If  the  few  who  were  present  had  been 
influenced  by  my  words  they    would    not  have 


132  RIZAL'S  DEFENCE 

let  the  "Liga"  die.  Is  it  that  those  who  fortued 
part  of  the  "Liga"  that  night  founded  the  Ka- 
tipunan?  I  think  not.  Who  went  to  Dapitnn 
to  interview  me?  Persons  entirely  unknown  to 
me.  Why  was  not  an  acquaintance  sent,  in 
whom  I  would  have  had  more  confidence?  Be- 
cause those  acquainted  with  me  knew  ver}'  well 
that  I  liad  forsaken  politics  or  that,  realizing 
my  views  on  rebellion,  they  must  have  refused 
to  undertake  a  mission  useless  and  unpromising. 

I  trust  that  by  these  considerations  I  have 
demonstrated  that  neither  did  I  found  a  society 
for  revolutionary  purposes,  nor  have  I  taken 
part  since  in  others,  nor  have  I  been  concerned 
in  the  rebellion,  but  that  on  the  contrary  1 
have  been  opposed  to  it,  as  the  making  public 
of  a  private  conversation  has  proven. 

Fort  Santiago,  Dec.  26,  1896. 

JOSE  lUZAL. 


The  remarks  about  the  rebellion  arc  from  a  pho- 
tographic copy  of  the  pencil  notes  used  by  Rizal 
for  his  brief  speech.  Thenumuscript  is  note  in  the 
possession  of  Sr.  Edtiardo  Lete,  of  Saragossa, 
Spain. 


Respecting  the  Rebellion. 

I  had  no  notice  at  all  of  what  was  being 
planned  until  the  first  or  second  of  July,  in 
1896,  when  Pio  Valenzuela  came  to  see  me, 
saying  that  an  uprising  was  being  arranged. 
1  told  him  that  it  was  absurd,  etc.,  etc.  and  he 
answered  nie  that  they  could  bear  no  more.  [ 
ndvised  him  that  they  should  have  patience, 
etc.,  etc.  He  added  then  that  he  had  been 
sent  because  they  had  compassion  of  my  life  and 
that  piobubly  it  would  compromise  me.  I  re- 
plied that  tliey  should  have  patience  and  that 
if  anything  happened  to  me  I  would  then  prove 
my  innocence.  "Besides,  said  1,  don't  consider 
me  but  our  country  which  is  the  one  that  will 
suffer."  I  w^ent  on  to  show  how  absurd  was 
the  movement. — This  later  Pio  Valenzuela  tes- 
tified.—  IJe  did   not  tell  me  that  my  name  was 


136  RIZAL'S  DEFENCE 

being  used,  neither  did  he  siio^gest  that    I    was 
its  chief,  nor  anything  of  that  sort. 

Those  who  testify  that  I  am  the  chief  (which 
1  do  not  know  nor  do  I  know  of  having  ever 
treated  with  them),  what  proofs  do  they  pre- 
sent of  my  having  accepted  this  chiefship  or 
that  I  was  in  relations  with  them  or  with  their 
society?  Either  they  have  made  use  of  my 
name  for  their  >wn  purposes  or  they  have  been 
deceived  by  others  who  liave.  Wliere  is  tlie 
chief  who  dictates  no  order  nor  makes  any 
arrangement,  who  is  not  consulted  in  any 
way  about  so  important  an  enterprise  until 
the  last  moment,  and  tlien,  when  he  decides 
against  it,  is  disobeyed?  Since  tlie  seventh  of 
July  of  181*2  1  have  entirely  ('ciised  political 
activity.  It  seems  some  have  wislied  to  avail 
themsi^ves  of  my  ntune  for  their  own  ends. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


REC'D  LD-URLI 


At2  9 

APR  14 


^91 3 
1973 


SCH/^f?G?-ORL 

EP  1     he 


'^•mw. 


^        JUN3  019^7 


4.  Ij^  Wl^^ 


OS  ^ 


01    • 
'RL  JAN^rOOf 


'^  ID-URt 


■RTonwsr, 


BK.med.cai  Ui^rarv 


o( 


^Ati.Ja^ 


oHit^    oi;i].9'50 


^^99(1    .4Ylwt^i\n  - 


i9-Series  4939 


I 'I 

3  1158  on«fic 


58  00868  7435